Fridays
by super em
Summary: A forensics convention and a night out gone terribly wrong lead to a chance meeting between Tony, Abby and Gibbs in Baltimore. Set preseason 1: my version of how Tony comes to NCIS. Now complete.
1. Chapter 1

**Fridays**

**Rating:** T

**Spoilers:** None, pre-series

**Disclaimer:** NCIS - not mine. Obviously, since I'm writing fanfiction instead of real episodes :P

**Warnings:** Contains mention of rape, violence

**Summary:** A forensics convention and a night out gone terribly wrong leads to a chance meeting between Tony, Abby and Gibbs. Set preseason 1: my version of how Tony comes to NCIS.

_A/N: I'm back! Just a few things to begin with. Firstly, I've got several chapters already written so I'll try to update regularly. I promise this won't be as long or ridiculous as 'Tony Hurts His Knee' . The other thing is this is set about 2 years before Season 1. I know Vivian Blackadder was a character in the JAG-NCIS episodes, but I haven't seen these so for all intents and purposes, she doesn't exist._

_One last thing – there are some pretty awful themes in the first few chapters especially. I hope this doesn't put you off, it's in no way graphic._

_As always, concrit and reviews are very, very welcome but please don't flame me!_

_I really hope you enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter One**

"Hey Pete."

The bartender looked up in recognition as a tall, lean man slid onto the barstool in front of him. "Tony! Man, its been a while, thought you'd forgotten us."

Tony smiled, resting both elbows on the bar. "You, Pete? Never. Work's been more than a little crazy lately. I don't think I've gotten more than 3 hours sleep a night for the past few weeks." He wiped a hand over his face

Pete shook his head, noticing the lines of fatigue tracing Tony's eyes and mouth. "Jesus, kid. You should be home, sleeping right now. But hey – I'm glad you're here. Let me get you a beer, on the house."

"Make it a ginger beer, would you?"

Pete glanced up, hand reaching for a glass. "You're on duty?"

Tony nodded, running a hand through his hair, ruffling it into messy spikes.

"Oh, the rapist case, right?" Pete said, setting the glass on the bar, his face darkening considerably. "Saw you on TV a couple times this week. What's that name they've given the guy?"

"The Friday Rapist," Tony said with a wry smile. "The creativity of the modern media never ceases to amaze me. A psycho who rapes a different girl every Friday. Genius." He frowned, drinking from the glass. "The press is all over this, it's ridiculous. I mean, I've spent the better part of this week conducting press conferences and doing interviews. Never mind letting me catch the bastard, let's just talk about how terrible he is."

Pete reached over, patting him lightly on the forearm. "That blows. But, ah, if you don't mind me asking, what are you doing here if you're on duty?"

"It's Friday." Tony said simply.

"Yeah… wait, you think the rapist might strike here?"

Tony shrugged. "Six victims so far. All attacked in different clubs, different suburbs. The only consistent description we've gotten so far is he dresses in black. Doesn't exactly narrow the search down," Tony said, gazing around the rapidly-filling nightclub. "He chooses a girl, rapes her, beats her to within an inch of her life and splits, same thing every week."

Pete placed both hands on the edge of the bar, watching the mass of bodies moving to the music on the dance floor. "Jesus, he could be right here."

Tony nodded somberly. "We've got teams in place at night clubs across the city. Trouble is, we don't know what we're looking for."

"You alone?"

Tony tilted his head toward the dance floor. "Dan's here." Pete recognized Dan Becker, the blonde-haired man who was Tony's partner, sitting at a table in the middle of the club. "So you notice anything unusual tonight?"

"Nothing stands out to me," Pete said, grabbing Tony's glass and topping it up. "Apparently there was some forensic convention in town that just finished. Lots of nerdy looking people wandering through, looking to get smashed before they have to go back to work on Monday."

"Geeks gone wild," Tony said with a grin. To the left of the bar, a group, obviously from the convention, were doing lines of shots. He smiled as a black-haired female, looking slightly out of place amongst the weedy, glasses-wearing scientists, downed her third shot, slamming down the glass in triumph. "They're gonna need the weekend just to recover from the hangover."

Pete gave his hand another friendly pat, moving down the bar to serve some other people. Tony swung around on the stool so that his back was resting against the bar and he had a wide view of the club. All around him, people were dancing, chatting, drinking, having fun.

Somewhere out there in Baltimore, the Friday Rapist was watching, choosing his next victim. Someone's night was about to end.

_TBC_

* * *

_Today's my birthday so, you know, isn't that a good enough reason to leave a review? Haha._


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Wow! I am totally overwhelmed (and delighted) by the response to the first chapter. I'm really sorry if I didn't reply personally, I'm in the middle of exams so I -should- be studying. Heh. See how that's working out. _

_Hope this doesn't disappoint._

**Chapter Two**

"Barman, we need another jug!"

It was the young, black-haired girl from the table of nerds, waving the empty plastic jug wildly in the air. Pete gently prised it from her hand.

"More beer?"

"You know it," she said, all smiles. Pete filled the jug up and handed it back, taking the proffered note. "You're cute," She said to Tony, poking him gently in the nose on her way back. Tony raised his eyebrows at Pete, standing up and walking over to sit with Dan.

"Anything?"

"Nada." Dan shook his head. "I've seen at least nine men dressed completely in black who could match our very general description. And that's not counting the guys in black shirts and jeans, add another twelve of those. This is pointless, DiNozzo. I could be in bed right now with my beautiful and very neglected girlfriend."

"Won't be pointless when we catch him Dan." Tony muttered, watching as the large group from the convention, having finished their beer, made their way to the dance floor where they proceeded to shake it like it was 1988. The rest of the dancers stepped back, giving them a wide berth.

"Check it out." He tapped Dan on the arm, pointing to one of the nerds who was trying to breakdance. Failing miserably too. Tony caught sight of the black-haired girl, gently prying off a scientist's hand that had slipped too far down her back.

A strange, piercing wail suddenly filled the air. The dancers paused for a second, looking around, but most quickly dismissed it, continuing to party. Tony, however, wasn't so sure. He jumped from his chair, quickly running in the direction of the noise. He could hear Dan following right behind him. Tony followed the noise out to the back door of the club and onto the street. The club backed onto an alley, dimly lit and scattered with empty cardboard boxes and dumpsters. Tony slowed, glancing around. It was quiet, and seemed to be abandoned.

The sound, the wail again. Tony squinted into the darkness. Two men, obviously drunk, were seated atop a dumpster at the end of the alley, apparently trying to howl at the moon.

"Hey!" Tony yelled. The men, startled, jumped of the dumpster, wandering out of the alley. Tony shook his head, turning around. The back door was swinging. Dan was gone. "Some partner," Tony muttered, heading back in. The table was still empty when he returned and he headed to the bar, grabbing another ginger beer. Dan was drying his hands when he sat back down.

"Idiot drunks," Dan said angrily. Tony nodded, his eyes wandering back to the dancers. Something was different.

Another scream cut through the night. This was a real scream, a painful, desperate scream for help. Tony jumped up. "Dan!" His partner made no attempt to move.

"I'm not getting up again to go yell at some losers smashed out of their minds, DiNozzo."

His mind racing, Tony's eyes darted back to the crowd. He couldn't see the black-haired girl. Anywhere. She was gone. He sprinted to the back door, pushing patrons aside left and right until he made his way into the alley.

It was dark and he couldn't make out anything other than the dumpsters. Then the girl – it was definitely a female screaming – cried out again and he saw the two platform boots sticking out from behind a dumpster at the opposite end of the alley way. Tony ran, but even at full pelt he was taking too long. The man was crouched over the girl, she was pinned down and all she could do was scream.

"Hey! Police!" He yelled, reaching toward the man. He saw it glint in the darkness. The flash of a blade, in a second it was placed against her throat. The man breathed heavily; the girl was panting in fear.

"Step back."

Tony couldn't see his face, but the man's voice was cold and coarse. Tony hesitated, the blade angled against the girl's throat. Where the hell was Dan? He couldn't wait for him. He had the bastard right in front of him, with the next victim no less.

Tony kicked, his foot coming down on the man's arm before he had a chance to react. The knife flew from the man's hand, skidding to rest under the dumpster. The man scrambled to his feet, swinging hard at Tony. It socked him right in the face, landing hard on his cheekbone. Tony reeled but stood standing, his fist traveling into the man's solar plexus. The man fell back, but not before he delivered a sweeping kick, knocking Tony's feet out from under him. Unable to stop the momentum, Tony fell back, his skull connecting with the metal dumpster behind him.

Everything went black for a moment. Tony's eyes flickered open and he pulled himself to his feet. The man was running, already at the end of the alley before the darkness consumed him. It was no good. The Friday Rapist had escaped.

A soft moan brought him to his senses and he remembered the girl. She was huddled back against the brick wall of the building, knees drawn up to her chest.

"Hey, how you doing?" Tony crouched down beside her. He pulled his badge out of his back pocket. "My name's Tony, Baltimore PD. I'm gonna take care of you, okay? He's gone now."

"Gone…" she repeated softly, mascara and eyeliner leaving thick tracks down her pale face. She was definitely the girl from the bar, the confident, sassy black-haired girl. Victim number seven. She held Tony's hand tightly as he reached for his cell phone, dialing the direct number to the police switchboard.

"This is DiNozzo. I need men at the back of Blitz Nightclub. Send an ambulance too. I've got number seven." He flipped the phone shut, joining the girl on the ground.

"Thank you Tony." The girl said, still clinging to his arm. He squeezed back.

"I'm just sorry I didn't get here sooner…"

"Abby." She said softly.

The squad car sirens must've tipped Dan off, because by the time he emerged from the club, floodlights had been set up, Abby had been taken to the nearest hospital and Tony was sitting on the back of an ambulance as a paramedic tended to the gash on the side of his head.

"DiNozzo. What the hell happened?" Dan shouted, marching toward him.

"Number seven, Dan." Tony replied coldly. He opened his mouth to say more but the paramedic interrupted him.

"Sir, you're definitely going to need stitches here. We have to take you to the hospital to rule out a concussion anyway."

"Go, DiNozzo." Dan said, anticipating his protests. Tony glared at him but stood up, climbing into the ambulance.

"We would have had him, Dan. He was right here. Now we're probably looking at victim number eight, nine, ten. If you'd been with me –" His partner swung the ambulance door shut in Tony's face before he could continue.

"- we would have had him."

_TBC --- Feedback appreciated_


	3. Chapter 3

_Thanks for the lovely words of encouragement. Here's the next one, hope you enjoy and please, tell me what you think :)_

**Chapter Three**

"Just hold that to your face. I'll be right back," The nurse said, pressing the icepack into Tony's hand as she left to get the dressings for his head. Tony leant back, staring around the small examination room in the hospital. The adrenalin was only just wearing off and the lack of sleep over the past week was quickly catching up with him.

"No! Get away from me!" The voice was slightly muffled, but he recognized it quickly. Number seven. Abby.

Tony slid off the bed, walking in the direction of the voice. The curtain was drawn around the bed in the room next to his, but he could recognize the black platform boots resting on the floor. He slowly approached, peeping his head around the curtain. He was a detective after all, Tony reasoned. He had every right to check up on his witness.

The girl, Abby, was surrounded by several nurses and doctors. "No, please, stay away!" she cried, drawing her legs up under her body. Her hair was hanging loose and she'd been dressed in a hospital gown. Recognition sparked in her eyes as she saw Tony enter.

"Excuse me sir, you can't be in here." A nurse said to him, but Abby interrupted him.

"Tony." She reached out and took his hand, fingers clasping tightly around it.

"What's going on here?" It was obvious Abby wasn't going to let go of him anytime soon.

"We were just discussing – we need to conduct a rape kit on Ms Scuito."

"No you don't." Abby said. Tony was surprised by the strength in her voice. "He didn't... do anything to me… Tony saved me."

After that, and Abby's apparent inability to release Tony's hand, the medical staff permitted him to stay with her. The young lady was still in a state of shock after the attack, Tony could feel her body trembling even under the layers of blankets she'd been covered with. He was relieved to hear that her injuries were mostly superficial; an assortment of cuts and grazes where her skin had come in contact with the gravel of the alleyway as well as dark bruises blossoming on her knees and elbows. All consistent with the other six victims, although in comparison Abby had been extremely lucky, her injuries relatively mild. What set her apart from the other six women was the sets of scratches running down her forearms from wrist to elbow.

Defensive marks.

Abby had fought back. Sustained some nasty fingernail-scratches in the process, deep enough to scar, but Tony suspected that these scratches indicated the real reason the incident was classified as an assault rather than a rape. The other six victims hadn't been so lucky. They'd been taken by surprise, overcome by the rapist such that they couldn't even cry out. Abby had a chance to defend herself, opening up the opportunity to call for help and eventually allow for her rescue.

She was definitely a tough chick.

He sat beside her, holding her hand as the medical staff tended to her injuries, applying salve and wrapping each wrist in thick gauze. She was, not surprisingly, content to sit in complete silence. Tony wasn't about to press her to talk. She'd have plenty of time for that later. The curtain rippled and a body entered the room. It was the nurse who'd been treating Tony earlier. She frowned.

"I've been looking for you. I still need to bandage your head."

"Don't worry about it," Tony said, not wanting to leave Abby.

"You're still bleeding," the nurse pointed out. Tony looked down, cursing softly. She was right, the gash on the back of his head was bleeding, a trickle of blood running down his neck and pooling in a spreading stain on the collar of his shirt.

"I'll get a nurse to sit with this young lady," the nurse said kindly. "This won't take long, but we do need to get you fixed up." Tony sighed, squeezing Abby's hand before gently prising her fingers away. A junior nurse entered the room, pulling the blankets up over Abby's shoulders.

"I'll be right back, I promise."

Abby blinked slowly but said nothing. Tony slid off the bed, following the nurse back to the examination room where a doctor was waiting. The gash on his head required three stitches and a bandage and he was given another icepack to reduce the swelling on his face. Finally Tony was allowed to get back to his detective duties.

He returned to Abby's room. Her doctor was waiting for him. "Ms Scuito has indicated her preference to leave. We've treated her injuries so there's no need for her to stay overnight. I do have trepidations about letting her go alone, do you have a contact number for someone she can stay with?"

"No, but I'll ask her." Tony replied. "Do you have something she could change into?" He nodded toward the thin white and blue hospital gown Abby was wearing. From what he'd seen of her at the bar, she was a girl with attitude. A girl who wouldn't appreciate the rest of the world seeing her in a backless hospital gown.

The doctor nodded. "I'll see what I can find."

Through a somewhat stilted conversation, Tony discovered several key facts about Abigail Scuito. She lived in Washington DC and was employed by NCIS. He knew this stood for Naval Criminal Investigative Service, although he'd never personally dealt with them before. She was in town for the forensics convention and was expected back sometime over the weekend.

"Have you got any family or friends you want me to contact?"

Abby nodded. "My boss. Gibbs. Number's in there." She pointed to the scratched but still functional cell phone sitting on the table beside the bed. She'd been carrying it in her pocket at the time.

The doctor re-entered, handing Tony a set of scrubs. "I'm sorry, this is the best I could find. She doesn't need to worry about returning them. Did you find her a friend to stay with?"

Tony shook his head. "No, but I've got a number. I'll take her back to my place, she can rest there."

The doctor passed Tony a script. "Okay. I've prescribed a mild sedative to help her sleep. Two tablets will knock her out for several hours."

Once the doctor was gone Tony gave the scrubs to Abby. "These are slightly better than the gown, I guess. Get changed and we can get out of this place."

Abby nodded, her hand dropping down to her lap. She glanced up at Tony, one eyebrow raised. "These are pink. Seriously?"

_TBC_


	4. Chapter 4

_Thank you for the awesome reviews! It's the best feeling to open up an inbox full of reviews... and definately makes writing a lot easier. Hope you enjoy!_

**Chapter Four**

"Gibbs."

The voice was low and gruff, although despite the very early (or late, depending on how you looked at it) hour, Tony didn't think he'd woken the man up. He'd waited until after they'd left the hospital; a uniform had given them a ride back to his place, then he'd put Abby to bed in his bedroom before calling her contact person, listed as 'Leroy Jethro Gibbs'. There were at least a dozen redneck jokes he could make about the man's name, but he put them to the back of his mind. He hated this kind of call, giving bad news to the family and friends of victims. Gibbs didn't sound like he was in the best of moods to begin with.

"Who is this?" Gibbs asked, quickly growing impatient with Tony's contemplative silence.

"Ah- my name is Anthony DiNozzo. I'm a detective with the Baltimore PD. I'm calling about Abigail Scuito."

"Abby? What'd she do, throw paper planes at the conference speaker again? Toilet-paper another statue?"

"Umm no. No she didn't." Tony swallowed. "Mr Gibbs, Abby was attacked outside a local nightclub last night. She asked me to contact you."

"What? Is she alright?"

"Her wounds were mostly superficial. But, Mr Gibbs, the thing you need to know is, the man who attacked her is a serial rapist. Abby was the seventh victim in as many weeks."

There was silence from the other end of the line, but Tony could hear the man breathing into the receiver. "A rapist… did he – "

"No." Tony put in quickly. "He was interrupted and fled the scene."

"Jesus. He's still out there."

"Yeah." Tony said somberly.

"What hospital is Abby at?"

"Well, as I said, her injuries were relatively minor. She was discharged, so I brought her back to my place." Tony gave the man his address before the man hung up rather abruptly. He placed the phone down and grabbed his sketch pad, sitting back on his couch. The alley way had been dark, but Tony had seen a tiny flash of the man's face in the struggle. He wanted to draw as much as possible before the memory faded beyond comprehension.

A sharp rap on the door drew Tony's attention and he set the sketchpad down, glancing up at the clock on the wall. It said he'd been sketching for almost an hour, although it seemed like just a few minutes. His stiff muscles protested as he pulled himself up and Tony walked slowly to the front door, glancing through the spy hole. A tall, lean man with silver hair was standing impatiently in front of it. Behind him stood an older man with slightly longer brown hair. Tony pulled the door open.

"Special Agent Gibbs." The first man said, pushing past Tony into the apartment. "Where is she?"

"Uh, sleeping." Tony said, pointing to the bedroom. The door was slightly ajar. Gibbs peeped his head in, then stepped back, nodding.

"The doctor in the ER gave her these pills." Tony said, grabbing the bottle from the counter and holding it out toward Gibbs. The brown-haired man stepped back from the bedroom door, taking the bottle from his hand.

"Ah, no wonder she's sleeping so soundly." The doctor turned back to Tony, holding out his hand. "Doctor Donald Mallard. And I believe we owe you our thanks Anthony for taking care of our dear friend."

"It's nothing, Doctor Mallard. And you can call me Tony. I just wish I'd gotten there sooner. The bastard still got away."

"Call me Ducky, dear boy. In my experience, it's best not to dwell on such thoughts. The important thing is you did get there in time to rescue young Abby. Although, he did do quite the number on you." Ducky frowned, his hand reaching up and gently probing the swelling on Tony's face. Tony flinched, stepping back involuntarily. He hadn't realized how sore his face was until now.

"Did a doctor take a look at this?" Ducky asked, concerned.

Tony nodded. "Yeah, it's nothing Doc…Ducky. He said I should keep it iced. I guess I had other things on my mind."

Ducky smiled knowingly, taking Tony by the shoulder and leading him to the couch. "I understand my friend, but that's no longer necessary. You have taken care of our friend and now you need to look after yourself. I'll get you something to put on that bruise to reduce the swelling."

"Good luck," Tony muttered as Ducky went to the freezer in search of an ice-pack. He returned less than a minute later, a cold bottle of water in hand.

"This is the best I could find. You don't even have ice cubes in your freezer! Do you have any food in the house?"

Tony smiled wryly, but took the bottle, pressing it gently to his cheek. "I doubt it. To be honest with you, this is the first time I've been home for a few days. This guy, they call him the Friday Rapist, keeps me busy."

Gibbs sat down on the chair across from Tony, crossing his arms. "So what do you know about him?"

Tony leant forward, picking up his sketch pad and pencil from the coffee table. He sat back, drawing a few stray lines on the page. "Nothing. Or next to nothing. Every Friday night he takes a new victim. Always female, always young, always intoxicated but no similarities past that. A different club, nothing significant about the times of attacks except that they've all taken place after midnight. I guess if you're going to get technical, he's really the Saturday Rapist –"

"Right, DiNozzo. Anything else?"

"Not really," Tony said, rubbing his jaw with a sigh. "He always wears a condom and we haven't been able to pull off any trace from the victims so far. Took scrapings from under Abby's fingernails." Tony nodded his head backward toward the bedroom. "But I doubt we'll get anything from it."

"Who's in charge of this case?" Gibbs asked, surveying the young man. He noted the thin lines of fatigue around the detective's eyes.

"Me. Well, my partner and I. Dan Becker."

"And you were both there. What went down last night?"

"We posted teams at all of the major nightclubs in town." Tony said without intonation, eyes fixed on the sketch pad. "He showed up at ours. I heard screams a little after midnight. Followed them outside. He had Abby pinned down behind a dumpster. He pulled a knife and when I disarmed him, he took a swing at me. We fought a bit… and I guess I hit my head on the dumpster. Came to a second later but he was already gone." Tony ran his hand over the bandage covering the stitches on his head.

"I had the bastard. He was right there… but I screwed up. Now I've got a week to catch him before he picks number eight." Tony dropped the sketchpad on the coffee table, picking up the bottle of water again and holding it to his cheek. "I saw him. It was dark but I saw him. I've been trying to get it down, but that's all I've come up with."

He pointed to the page of the sketch pad. He'd drawn a set of eyes, cold, emotionless eyes. Gibbs opened his mouth to speak again but Ducky cut him off.

"I know there is still a lot to be discussed Jethro, but I believe Tony needs to get some rest. When did you last sleep, my boy?"

Tony smiled, standing up and stretching. "Doesn't matter, Duck. I'll sleep when I have this guy in handcuffs." He glanced at the clock. It was almost 6am. "No point now anyway, I have to go back to work. I'm just going to take a shower. Help yourself to the kitchen, although I'm not sure you'll find anything."

"Mind you don't get those stitches wet!" Ducky called after him. Tony nodded, heading down the hallway. Gibbs' eyes met Ducky's and he frowned. He'd gotten the distinct impression that this wasn't Tony's first time having stitches. Ducky took Tony's place on the lounge, a hint of a smile coming to his face.

"You know, that boy reminds me of someone Jethro."

_TBC_


	5. Chapter 5

_Thanks so much for the amazing feedback. Please keep it up, you really make my day :)_

**Chapter Five**

Tony wiped the steam off the mirror, staring at his pale reflection in the mirror. The hot shower had helped, but he still felt sore all over. His knees were raw and grazed, his jeans had been shredded up in the fight and he could feel bruises forming on his chest and shoulders. His face hurt most of all, the punch to his cheekbone was one of the hardest Tony could remember getting. The area around it was tender and swollen, spreading across to the side of his nose and the bottom of his eye, a dark black bruise gathering just beneath the surface.

He was glad he hadn't bothered, or more correctly, hadn't had time to put away the clean laundry; it sat in a heap in the corner of his bathroom. He wouldn't have wanted to risk waking Abby venturing into the bedroom in search of clothes. Wearing yesterday's clothes wasn't all that appealing either and he didn't think Gibbs would appreciate him walking around wearing only a towel. Nor would his Captain at the police station for that matter. Running fingers through his hair, Tony pulled on a pair of black jeans and a long-sleeved button up white shirt, thick enough to conceal the dark bruises. It could do with an iron, but he had more pressing concerns.

Gibbs and Ducky were still on the lounge when he emerged from the shower. Tony grabbed his gun and badge, clipping them to his belt and picked up his keys.

"I've got to go, but you're welcome to stay for as long as you need. Guest bedrooms to the right-" he pointed to the door. "and you can sleep on the couch as well. Probably find some pillows and blankets in the closet."

Gibbs stood up. "I'm coming with you."

Tony turned back from the door, frowning slightly. "Umm, look Gibbs, I know you work with Abby, but this is a Baltimore Homicide case." He went to turn back to the door, but froze when he saw the expression on Gibbs' face.

"Listen kid," Gibbs growled, standing up and walking towards Tony. "I don't care if this is your case. Abby's one of mine. And I look after my own. Seven weeks and you still haven't caught the bastard. Sounds like you could use my help."

Tony's face darkened and he scowled. He turned and walked out of the apartment, but he left the door open behind him. Ducky raised an eyebrow.

"Was that entirely necessary Jethro?"

Gibbs shrugged. "Worked, didn't it? Keep an eye on Abs for me."

"Of course," Ducky replied, but Gibbs was already gone.

Tony was about to start the engine of his Corvette when he felt the weight shift. Before he could even glance over, he heard a door slam and suddenly Gibbs was in the passenger seat of his car.

"What the-?"

Gibbs smirked. "Just be glad I'm letting you drive."

Unable to think of a reply, Tony shook his head in wonderment, slipped on his glasses and started the car. Even though it was a Saturday, the pathway to the door of the head office of the Baltimore Police Department was crowded with reporters. An officer stood in front of the mob, unsuccessfully trying to make them leave.

"Vultures," Tony muttered, pushing his sunglasses further up his nose. The glasses were large and covered nearly all of the bruise, but Tony didn't want to give the press any more information than they already had. Gibbs followed closely behind as Tony approached the group. Many of the reporters seemed to recognize him.

"Tony!"

"Detective DiNozzo!"

"Is it true another woman was attacked last night?"

"What happened last night?"

"Did you catch him?"

"Detective DiNozzo!"

Tony sighed, pushing his way through the crowd until he reached the front door of the building, subconsciously pushing up the sunglasses again.

"People!" He yelled. The crowd quieted considerably. "I'm not at liberty to tell you anything at this time. There'll be a press conference shortly, you'll get your answers then."

The chorus of questions started up again as soon as Tony finished speaking, but he shook his head, pulling open the door to the building. Gibbs followed after him.

"What was that all about?"

Tony frowned, slipping the glasses back into his pocket. "The local journalists and I have become good friends over the past few weeks. Chief sticks me with all the PR duties and there's been a helluva lot of that on this case, so we've all become nice and familiar."

"You and your partner are the lead detectives on a serial rapist case! Why the hell are you wasting your time being the pretty face on the news?" Gibbs growled, his hand grabbing Tony's elbow.

Tony's eyebrow quirked but he stopped walking and faced Gibbs. "Out of my hands, Special Agent Gibbs."

Gibbs shook his head, but continued following Tony through the building.

"DiNozzo!" A bald-headed man of medium height stood at a doorway, his eyes fixed on Tony.

"Captain Vernski." Tony nodded wearily, approaching the man.

"What the hell happened last night? And who the hell is he?"

"Special Agent Gibbs, Naval Criminal Investigative Service," Tony said, nodding his head toward Gibbs, who was now standing beside him. "Number seven works for him."

Gibbs was impressed that Tony remembered what the acronym stood for, but growled under his breath when Tony referred to his forensic specialist as 'Number Seven'. She had a name.

The captain opened the file he held in his hand, scanning it quickly. "Says here she's a scientific technician. Navy cops don't have jurisdiction here. If anything, this'd fall to the FBI."

Gibbs gave the man the evilest glare Tony had seen in years. Captain Vernski was apparently unaware however, still flipping through the folder. "I don't give a damn about jurisdiction, Captain. I'm going to get this guy whether you like it or not."

"Easier just to agree," Tony chipped in.

Vernski looked between the men then, with a resigned sigh, thrust the folder toward Tony. "Fine. Whatever it takes to catch this scumbag. You ready for the press conference?"

Tony scowled. "Not yet, but they can wait. I've got actual work to do."

"You'll talk to them within the hour DiNozzo, you hear me? This whole situation is bad enough without impatient reporters circulating rumours. Show me your statement before you go out there."

"Yes captain," Tony nodded, walking over to his desk. Gibbs gave the man a final stare then pulled up a chair.

"Where's your partner?"

Tony glanced at his watch. It was a little after seven am. "Sleeping I guess. Our shift doesn't start until eight."

Gibbs' contempt for the man grew, but he said nothing. Tony shuffled the papers on his overflowing desk, rubbing absently at the bruise on his face.

"What are you thinking?"

Tony looked up, surprised at the intrusion into his thoughts. "It just… it doesn't make sense. We had officers in over thirty clubs last night. Thirty clubs and he happens to target the club Dan and I are assigned to. More than that, the victim he selects is the only female I speak to all night. It's… I mean, it could be a coincidence but –"

"I don't believe in coincidences." Gibbs stated firmly. Tony looked like he was about to say something but stopped, swallowing.

"Right. That's what I'm thinking, I mean I'm on the news talking about the scumbag every other night, it's no secret Dan and I are the lead investigators here. Which means…"

"He's getting cocky. Showing off. Pretty typical behaviour really," Dan Becker said, sauntering through the room and sitting at the desk facing Tony's.

Tony's face darkened. "You're here early Dan. Sure could've used that kind of attitude last night."

"Shut it DiNozzo." Becker stood again. "I'm going for coffee."

"Coffee." Gibbs repeated, quickly following Becker.

_TBC_


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read this, and especially to those who go to the trouble of writing me a review. I really appreciate your comments._

_A/N2: I know a few of you are waiting for the confrontation between Gibbs and Becker. I've been busy writing, so I can tell you that it -will- happen, but not until chapter nine. Just so you know I haven't forgotten it :P_

_Hope you like!_

**Chapter Six**

Forty minutes later, Tony pushed his chair back from the desk and pulled a page out of the computer. He walked to Captain Vernski's office, slapping the paper down on his desk. "A draft of the press release."

Vernski nodded, reaching for his glasses as he skimmed the page. He handed it back to Tony with a nod. "That's good stuff DiNozzo. Now get out there, the mob is waiting."

Tony hesitated. "Cap, I don't think I should be the one to do this." He pointed to the dark bruise on his face. "They're gonna ask what happened, and this will turn into a story about the police's incompetence. I mean, this story's got enough bad press already."

Vernski shook his head. "They'll ask more questions if you're not the one to give the statement kid. You're on first name basis with most of the reporters, they like you. Besides, Becker's not as camera-friendly as you."

Tony bit his tongue, leaving the office. Outside, Melissa, Versnki's assistant, took pity on Tony, whipping out her makeup kit. She covered most of the bruise with foundation and powder so it was less noticeable. With his sunglasses on, it was possible nobody would even see it. With a sigh, Tony slipped on his aviators and went out to the press gathered around the doors of the building.

Within a matter of seconds he was surrounded, microphones, recorders and cameras pressed into his face. He cleared his throat, reading from the paper.

"Last night the Friday Rapist struck again, outside the Blitz Nightclub. The attack took place at 1:18 am. The victim, a 27 year old female who's name will not be released, managed to fight off her attacker until help arrived. She was taken to hospital with minor injuries. The Friday Rapist managed to escape however no witnesses saw his face.

"The Baltimore Police Department will be again increasing the number of officers on patrol and we are encouraging young women not to go out on Friday nights until the perpetrator has been apprehended."

Tony finished and tried to make his way back into the building but was stopped, dozens of reporters throwing their questions at him. "People!" Tony shouted in frustration. "I know you have questions, but they'll have to wait. I've got to get back to work."

Gibbs was seated, quite comfortably, in Tony's chair when he re-entered the building. "So where are we?" Tony asked, leaning on the desk.

"Nice speech DiNozzo," Becker smirked, switching off the television broadcasting live from the conference.

Tony ignored him. "Have we heard from forensics yet? Any results from the swabs we did of number seven's arms?"

"Nothing yet," Becker replied. Tony swore under his breath.

"Great. So that leaves us with seven victims and no leads. Any ideas?" Tony turned to Gibbs.

Gibbs stood up, pulling a piece of paper from his jacket pocket. "Well, you never finished this." It was Tony's sketch, the eyes of the Friday Rapist staring out of the page.

Tony took his seat, looking at the rough sketch. "That's all I've got. It was dark and I hit my head… all I remember is his eyes."

"They're distinctive. Think you'd recognize them?"

"Definitely." Tony said firmly. The eyes, the cold, dark eyes were something he'd never forget. "I guess I could start looking through pictures on the database. There's only a few thousand… assuming he's a convicted criminal."

Gibbs nodded. "You do that."

"Where are you going?"

"To get a refill." He held up the empty mug in his hand, walking down the corridor.

"Didn't he drink coffee like an hour ago?" Tony stared after Gibbs, shaking his head. He flicked through dozens of photos, nothing standing out to him. Suddenly he jerked up in his chair. "Dan!"

"What?"

"You ran the scene outside Blitz last night didn't you?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Where's the recovered evidence list?"

Becker shuffled through a few files before handing a piece of paper across to Tony. Tony scanned it. "The knife."

"What knife?"

"Exactly. It was never recovered, it's not on the list so you must have missed it, but the Friday Rapist was carrying a knife. It must still be at the scene."

"We didn't miss anything DiNozzo. We were stuck there half the night."

Tony ignored him, strapping on his gun holster and grabbing the keys. Gibbs returned with his latest cup of coffee, quirking an eyebrow at Tony.

"What have you got?"

"Possible lead. I'm not sure. I'm going back to the club."

"Where's your backup?" Gibbs stared at Becker.

"Don't need it, I just need to look at the crime scene again, in daylight. I'll be back in an hour." Tony grabbed his badge, jogging down the hallway.

One hour and eleven minutes later he returned, swinging an evidence bag in one hand. It held a long, shiny knife. "This would be the knife," he announced. "I'm gonna run it down to forensics, see if we can't get a print from it. We know he wasn't wearing gloves last night, he managed to claw Abby pretty good."

"Where was it?" Gibbs asked when Tony came back to the desks.

"Under a dumpster. Got kicked under in the fight."

"You missed a knife that size?" Gibbs asked, glaring at Becker.

"It was dark." Becker growled. "You could have told me DiNozzo, how was I supposed to find a knife I didn't know existed?"

"Well I was going to but you slammed the door on me before I had a chance to!" Tony stared at his partner. His expression softened. "You're right Dan."

"Of course I am."

"No I mean, I didn't think of it until now. He's never used a knife before. His methods are evolving, he's becoming meaner. Fiercer. Which means –"

"We need to find the bastard before he kills someone." Gibbs said.

_TBC_


	7. Chapter 7

_Hello my lovely readers! Thank you for your awesome comments on the previous chapters. I hope you enjoy this one too :) Just so ya know, I'm not going to be able to update for about a week; I finish high school tomorrow and then it's Schoolies Week, so I won't be home until next Wednesday. But, I promise I'm going to update as soon as possible :) Enjoy!!!_

**Chapter Seven**

By 8 o'clock in the night, Tony had been through several thousand file photos, unsuccessfully trying to identify the rapist. The DNA tests from the scrapings under Abby's nails hadn't given them anything. The tech had managed to pull two sets of prints from the knife. One, on the blade, had matched Tony. This result had come up pretty quickly because his prints were already in the system. The second print, on the handle of the knife, was yet to yield a match but Tony was hopeful. It was more than likely that the print belonged to the Friday Rapist and the machine still had hundreds of thousands of prints to run it against. He left the forensic technician on the midnight shift with strict orders to call him the moment the search had a match and, with nothing else to do, left with Gibbs.

They grabbed Chinese food and beer on the way to Tony's apartment, remembering the state of Tony's fridge.

Abby was sitting on the couch with Ducky watching Tony's TV when they walked in.

"Gibbs!" Abby jumped up, wrapping her arms around the silver-haired man. She was wearing Tony's blue dressing gown but the black skull-and-crossbones pajamas she wore underneath definitely didn't belong to Tony. "Friend dropped off my suitcase from the hotel," she explained when she saw Gibbs glance at them.

She turned toward Tony. She looked tired, he noted, probably thanks to the sedatives. Tired and sad, but at the same time okay. The haunted look he had seen too many times in the other victims wasn't present in her eyes. She embraced him in a hug as he set down the beer and food. "Thank you." She whispered into his ear. Tony smiled, hugging her back.

"Oh my god your eye!" she squealed, seeing it properly for the first time. Her finger ran across the bruise softly. "Are you wearing makeup?" She held up her finger, smeared with the creamy foundation.

"Gotta look good for the cameras, you know. Did you see me on the news?" Tony replied with a grin.

"Only, like, five times today. My hero." She hugged him again then reached for the beer. She passed one to each of the men then settled back on the couch.

"Anthony, I must thank you for your hospitality." Ducky said once everyone was finished eating. "You have far exceeded the call of duty. Needless to say, I will soon be out of your hair. As much as I'm relieved that Abigail is okay, I am currently the only medical examiner working for NCIS and my services are needed back in Washington."

"No problem Ducky. You're all welcome here as long as you need." Tony said, standing up and stretching.

Ducky smiled at him. "As I was discussing earlier with Abby, she has two bedrooms in her suite back at the hotel, so we planned to head back there to spend the night. I believe we won't all fit here."

"Nah, it's late, you should stay." Tony said. "I've got a spare room, plus a couch and my bed. You guys can sleep on those. I'll take the floor, doesn't bother me."

"No, Tony, you need your sleep. You look really tired!" Abby said, her eyes filled with concern.

Tony brushed it off. "Seriously, I'm fine. Stay. I'm going to go running, make yourselves at home."

Gibbs looked at him. "It's almost 10 pm DiNozzo."

"Yeah, I used to run in the mornings but a few reporters found out about it and used to follow me hoping for an extra interview. It's nice and peaceful at night. Besides, I've got a gun." He winked at Abby, quickly heading into the bedroom and reappearing in tracksuit pants and a tank top.

"Be back in an hour," he told the room, clipping the gun onto the waistband of his pants. He was gone before anyone could reply.

Gibbs was sitting on the sofa, watching television with the sound off when Tony stepped through the door about an hour later, perspiring heavily. Abby and Ducky had since gone to bed, the doors to the main and spare bedrooms were closed. Nodding to Gibbs, he stumbled into the shower.

"Sit down Tony," Gibbs said as Tony emerged from the shower fifteen minutes later, his eyes fixed on the television screen. Tony hesitated for a second but he wasn't sure how the older man would react to being disobeyed, so he grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge then sat down on the armchair across from Gibbs.

"'Sup?" Tony asked. Gibbs turned the television off, his eyes locking on Tony.

"What did you mean before?"

Tony frowned, thinking back. "Before… you mean about going running at night? Or about how you guys are staying here? Or about –"

"When you said, you 'sure could've that kind of attitude last night' to your partner."

"Oh that? That was nothing, Dan just has this thing about stakeouts." Tony drank from the bottle, but stopped when he felt the full force of Gibbs' stare.

"Don't lie to me DiNozzo. Tell me what's going on with you and your partner. How is it that he was completely uninjured while the rapist did a number on you and got away?" Gibbs reached out, gently taking the water from Tony's hand before he could distract himself taking another drink.

"Gibbs I-"

"I've read the report DiNozzo. I want the unofficial explanation."

Tony sighed, suddenly feeling more than a little weary. His run, coupled with the fact he hadn't slept at all the previous night, and barely a few hours each night before that, left him struggling to keep his eyes open. And it definitely hadn't left him with enough energy to resist Gibbs' questioning.

"There was a false alarm. Two drunk guys yelling in the same alleyway, about five minutes before the real attack happened. We heard it, ran out with guns drawn just to shout at some idiots. When we heard Abby screaming, just after we gone back inside – well I guess it did sound a lot like the drunk guys again. Dan didn't want to get up again, he was watching the door, looking for suspicious men dressed in black. I ran outside and the rest, you've read in the report."

Gibbs sat up straight, eyebrows knotted in anger. "You had no backup? You attacked the guy by yourself?"

"I know it was stupid," Tony said, taken aback by Gibbs' fury. "But I had no choice, the guy was on top of Abby, he had a knife. I had to do something."

"I'm going to kill him." Gibbs growled, standing up. Tony looked up at him, surprised by the man's actions.

"Wh-" Tony interrupted himself with a huge yawn. He rubbed his jaw, looking sheepishly at Gibbs.

"Get some rest Tony," Gibbs said not unkindly, nodding his head to the recently vacated sofa.

"Where are you planning on sleeping then?"

Gibbs pointed to the pile of blankets in the corner Tony hadn't noticed on his way in, a collection of comforters from both beds as well as the couple of blankets kept in the cupboard.

Tony grinned. "Are you planning on walking tomorrow? Or even standing straight? Because that's gonna ruin your back." He stood up, walked over and flopped down on the blankets. "You take the couch. Trust me, you'll appreciate it in the morning."

"What about your back?" Gibbs pointed out.

"My back can take it." Tony smiled up at him. "I'm young Gibbs."

Gibbs stood in silence. None of the underlings he'd ever trained at NCIS would ever dare speak to him like that. Or live to tell the tale anyway. A comment like that warranted a slap to some part of the body at least.

Before he could reply, however, the daring detective was fast asleep.

_TBC_

_Please review if you have time, I'll update as soon as I get back :)_


	8. Chapter 8

_Thank you so much for all the awesome reviews. You guys rock! So here's the next chapter, it's pretty uninteresting but there's more to come. I'll update again soon_._ Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy!!!!_

**Chapter Eight**

Tony woke to the smell of bacon sizzling. He lay still for a moment, breathing in the aroma.

"Tony, you're awake. Good morning dear boy."

He squinted up to see Ducky smile at him, setting plates down on the table.

"Breakfast is ready."

Tony pulled himself up, stretching his stiff body. A glance to the clock told him it was a little after 7 am. He shook his head slightly, he couldn't remember the last time he'd had seven hours of uninterrupted sleep. "Where'd the food come from?"

"The store," Abby said from her place on the couch, where she was watching the news with Gibbs. "Hey look, you're on TV!" She pointed as the footage from the press conference was replayed on the screen.

"Like I said, this is a big story." Tony said, sitting down at the table.

"Gibbs! Look, it's you. You look good." Abby squealed. Gibbs' eyebrow twitched as he turned his head back to the screen. The station was now playing the footage of Gibbs and Tony walking into the police department headquarters yesterday morning. She grabbed the remote, turning up the volume.

"_Channel Five has exclusively managed to identify the man sighted with Detective DiNozzo yesterday morning. The man, who was not handcuffed or restrained, was initially believed to be a witness to the latest attack which took place in the early hours of Saturday morning. However, sources have identified the man as Special Agent Leroy Gibbs, a federal agent with the Navy Police. This information has lead to suspicions that victim number seven, the most recent victim whom we know nothing about other than her age, 27, is somehow involved with the Navy. Local police have refused to offer any more information at this time and declined to comment on our findings. This is Anita Hedgeworth reporting for Channel Five news."_

"Navy Police," Gibbs muttered, taking his place at the table. Abby and Ducky joined him.

"This is good, Duckman." Abby said with a mouthful of food. She swallowed, glancing at Tony. "Do you have to go to work today?"

Tony scowled. "Captain told me he didn't want to see my face until Monday morning. Told me to get some sleep. So it seems I'm stuck here until then."

"Well you don't have any more leads anyway, do you?" Abby asked.

"… not exactly, but I could be going through more file photos. Or there could be a hit on the print from the knife-"

"DiNozzo, the lab will call you if there's a match to the print." Gibbs interjected. "And the photos are all from previous convictions, so he'll only be in there if he's done this before."

"If I may add my thoughts," Ducky said politely, "based on what you've told me of the case, the man we're dealing with is relatively new to this. I say this because he keeps changing his methods; I may not be a profiler, but in my opinion, if he had done this kind of thing before, or any crime for that matter, he would be more set in his ways. Prison really does change a man…you know, this case does remind me of a story I heard in my travels in India. You see –"

"What time you heading back, Duck?" Gibbs cut him off somewhat bluntly. Tony glanced across to Ducky, expecting some sort of reaction, but the older man seemed quite used to being ignored, smiling blandly and answering Gibbs' question.

"I thought sometime this morning. Rescue the poor nurse from my lovely mother."

Gibbs chuckled. "I'll drive you back. You should give the nurse a bonus for staying overnight you know."

"I do agree she's earned it." Ducky replied as he began gathering the empty plates from the table. "Let me clean up here and gather my things and I shall be ready."

Gibbs looked over to Abby. "Have you decided?"

"What? Oh, yeah. Morrow called me while you and Ducky were getting groceries, he heard about what happened. He said he wouldn't be letting me back for at least two weeks, regardless of my injuries. The temp that was covering for me while I was at the convention is gonna stay on. So I was thinking, maybe I would stay here. If that's ok, Tony." She added quickly. "Because if it isn't, I could stay at the hotel. Or just go back to DC."

"No, Abby, you're welcome here for as long as you want. I mean that." Tony said, grabbing her hand before she worried herself into a knot. "Besides, I need to get an official statement off you. I know we got one at the crime scene, but I want to get another one when you're thinking a little more clearly."

Abby nodded. "Is that okay, Gibbs? I mean, if there's a big case or whatever I'll go right back to Washington, the temp is alright but she's not me…"

Gibbs smiled and stood, kissing Abby on the top of the head. "That's fine."

Abby stood as well. "Good. Now Ducky – Tony and I are washing up. You go pack, or whatever you need to do. I think you've done enough for one morning."

Tony took the plates of Ducky. "Thanks for breakfast Ducky. Definitely beats stale Captain Crunch."

Ducky shook his head at that, but relented, releasing the plates and heading to the spare bedroom to gather his things. True to his word, he was ready in a few minutes and after a ferocious hug from Abby, Gibbs and Ducky were gone, leaving Abby and Tony alone.

Abby smiled deviously, twirling a dishrag in her hand. Tony, elbow deep in soapy water, glanced over at her.

"What?"

"I was just wondering…" She chuckled.

"Yeah?" Tony raised an eyebrow, then flicked a finger at her, spattering her with soap suds.

"Hey! I was just wondering how a cutie like you is single." Abby winked when Tony's eyes met hers, then busied herself drying the plates. Tony shook his head, pulling the plug out of the sink.

"Fair question. I guess you could say it's only temporary. Kind of obvious this case doesn't give me much time for a social life. But, as soon as we catch the bastard, I plan on rectifying that."

Abby grinned, tossing the towel on the bench and heading back into the living room. "Mind if I play some music?" she called out.

"Go for it," Tony replied, following her in. He wasn't sure any of his music would be to her taste. Sure enough, after pressing a few buttons on Tony's sound system, music that could only be described as noise filled the room. Definitely not from Tony's collection.

"Brought my own CD's." Abby yelled, bobbing her head furiously with the beat.

Tony smiled weakly in reply, silently wondering how Abby wasn't completely deaf.

_TBC_


	9. Chapter 9

_Thank you so much for the reviews! I cyber-hug you all. And again, I'm really sorry if I don't reply personally. It isn't because I don't appreciate you taking the time to comment :) Anyway, I hope you like the next installment :) _

_Oh, and I hope everyone in the USA had a great Thanksgiving. I'm not really sure what it even is, but I hope yours rocked!! ;)_

**Chapter Nine**

"Oh my god." Tony couldn't get out of the car fast enough, steadying himself on a pole while he concentrated on just breathing. Abby giggled, climbing out behind him. She wasn't as green, but she was a little pale. Gibbs was the last to emerge, slamming the driver side door shut and locking the car. He shook his head impatiently at the other two.

"You planning on coming inside?"

Tony held up a hand. "Yeah… just give me a minute."

Abby smiled, resting a hand on his back. "Don't worry, you get used to his driving."

Tony just stared at her. "I don't think I could ever get used to that. How does that man still have his license?"

"Never got a ticket, DiNozzo." Gibbs said as Abby and Tony caught up to him, walking into the police station.

"Then the traffic cops in DC must be blind. Or stupid. Maybe both."

"Nah, they're all scared of Gibbs." Abby said, linking arms with her boss.

"That doesn't surprise me," Tony replied, flashing his keycard at the door to get access to the building. The police-only side entrance allowed them to avoid the mob of reporters loitering at the front door. "Anyway, you're never getting behind the wheel of my Corvette."

Gibbs gave him a look. Tony's face sobered as they approached his desk. Not surprisingly, Dan wasn't there yet. It was early after all.

"Alright Abby," Tony led her to a spare chair then sat down at his own desk. "You probably already know this, but I'm gonna go through it again with you. We'll get your statement once Dan gets here, but I want to make sure you know what to expect."

Abby nodded. "Who am I going to be talking to?"

"Just me," Tony assured her. "We'll be recording your statement, and all I need you to do is to talk me through what happened on Friday night in as much detail as possible."

Gibbs returned with coffee. "Where's Becker?"

"He'll be here soon," Tony said.

"I want to talk to him," Gibbs growled.

Tony's eyes widened, but he didn't want to argue with Gibbs, especially when Gibbs was in that kind of mood. He stood up.

"Okay, I'm going downstairs to see if they got anything from the print."

"Oh!" Abby jumped up. "Can I come?"

Tony glanced at Gibbs, who gave a tiny nod of approval. "Sure."

By the time Tony managed to drag Abby out of the lab, away from all the shiny machinery and back to his desk, Becker had arrived.

"Nothing," Tony said before Gibbs could even ask about the lab results. "I'm going to do Abby's statement now. You coming?"

Becker shook his head. "No need for both of us to do it."

Tony raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, leading the way to a meeting room to record Abby's official statement. Gibbs smiled to himself. He'd been waiting for an opportunity to be alone with Tony's partner.

"Becker." Gibbs said gruffly.

The man in question glanced up from the filing cabinet drawer he'd just pulled out. His casual smile faded when he got a good look at Gibbs' face. "…yeah?"

Gibbs placed a hand on Becker's shoulder, forcibly pushing him down into the desk chair. "You wanna tell me what went down on Friday night?"

It wasn't a question.

Becker pointed in the direction of the meeting room now occupied by Abby and Tony. "Isn't that her job?"

Gibbs' eyes flashed. "SHE has a name. And it's not number seven. More to the point, you wouldn't need to be calling her number seven if you'd just done your job on Friday night. You wouldn't even be here, you'd be on the news, doing press interviews, being hailed as a hero. You know why? Because if you'd done your job, you would have caught the son of a bitch who's already raped six women!"

"I-" Becker tried to cut in, but Gibbs, red-faced, ignored him.

"You _chose_ to sit on your ass inside the club. You _chose_ to let your partner be beaten, be injured, while you were sipping lemonade. You _chose_ to do nothing while an innocent young woman was attacked!" Gibbs sighed heavily, still fuming. "Thank god DiNozzo was competent enough, dedicated enough to do something."

"DiNozzo doesn't –" Another powerful glare from Gibbs shut Becker up.

"You are the sorriest excuse for a detective I've ever seen Becker. You wouldn't last a second on my team."

Becker stood up from his chair once it was obvious Gibbs' rant was complete. "Look, Agent Gibbs, I don't give a damn how much you yell at me. You're right, I'm not on your team. I sure as hell don't want to be, because I can't imagine having you as a boss. You have no jurisdiction. You have no right to talk to me like this in my office, in the Baltimore Police Department. _Number seven_ is a civilian and it's only because I'm a good person that I'm allowing you to even be here."

Becker opened his mouth to say more, but Tony and Abby arrived back, preventing him from doing so. Abby was a little paler that before, if that was possible for the raven-haired Goth. It wasn't surprising, considering she'd just relived the assault.

"Everything okay?" Tony asked, the tension between his partner and Gibbs too strong to ignore. Gibbs grunted in reply, patting Abby on the shoulder and walking away, presumably in search of more coffee.

Becker glared at Tony. "DiNozzo, I don't really know why that man is here, or why you even let him in the door, but I want him gone. We have work to do."

"No." Tony stared back, giving as good as he got. "He stays. Abby is his man… woman…person... whatever. How would you feel if –" Tony faltered, trying to think of a lab technician who Dan didn't personally hate. He came up empty.

Dan smirked, interpreting this as a victory on his part. "He goes. And the girl too, we don't need her."

"Dan, you may be senior partner, but that doesn't allow you to override your superiors." Tony frowned. "Vernski gave Gibbs permission to be here. He stays. "

Tony was considerably taller than Becker, but even looking up Dan was a force to be reckoned with. "You watch your tone, DiNozzo. And you're right, I am senior partner. You don't get to tell me what to do, you're the cop who's bounced from so many different police stations the post office still has trouble figuring out where to forward your mail. Just because you're nice and tight with the old federal agent doesn't mean you can give me orders."

Becker snatched the folder out of Tony's hand, pushing his way past Abby as he stormed out of the room.

"Jesus, Tony. That guy is grumpier than Gibbs!" Abby offered, stepping out of the corner once Dan was safely out of earshot. "He treats you like crap, why do you put up with it?"

Tony chuckled half-heartedly, rubbing his bruised face as he sat back in his chair. "He's my partner, Abby. He may be a dick, but I know he always has my back."

"He didn't on Friday night." Abby said softly.

Tony said nothing.

_TBC_


	10. Chapter 10

_Hello! Hope you're having a great Tuesday (or whatever day it happens to be when you read this). Thanks for the comments, and thanks for continuing to read this :) Hope this doesn't disappoint. Enjoy!_

**Chapter Ten**

Even without any new leads, there was plenty of work to be done. And when there was no work, there was always the press. At the bequest of his captain, Tony split his time between the investigation and interviews with reporters and journalists working locally and even nationally. The case was getting a lot of media attention. Gibbs and Becker busied themselves looking through mountains of files; since the fingerprint on the knife hadn't yielded any results there only option was to go through cold case after cold case in the hope of finding a connection. Abby, having chosen to stick around after Morrow gave her two weeks off, volunteered her services to the forensics lab.

On Thursday afternoon, after finishing his fourth radio interview warning the women of Baltimore to stay home on Friday night, Tony rejoined the rest of the group in the office. He grabbed a stack of files from the considerable hill piling the desk then sat back in his chair with a grunt.

"They should put me on the payroll at the local news station you know," Tony commented, making a face as he swallowed the last of the bitter coffee in his mug, long cold since he'd been occupied with media duty. "I mean, I spend more time on air than the weatherman. I could at least get my name in the opening credits."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow. Becker chuckled, opening his mouth to reply when Captain Vernski appeared, clearing his throat.

"Nice sound bite in the interviews today DiNozzo," Vernski said with a nod. He mimicked Tony's voice. "Stay in and stay safe."

Tony rolled his eyes. He'd heard, and said the slogan far too many times that day.

"Anyway," Vernski continued. "It's almost seven, and you've all been reading so many files today that you're more likely to miss something important than you are to connect it to this case. Go home, get some food, get some sleep. Tomorrow's going to be a very long day."

Tony nodded somberly, dumping his files unceremoniously back on the pile. Becker followed suite, swiftly collecting his gun, badge and coat. Gibbs drained his coffee, grimacing slightly as he stood up.

"You guys wanna get a bite?" Tony asked. "I'll get Abby."

They walked the couple of blocks to Gerard's, a popular haunt for cops in the area. Home of 'the best steaks in town' according to Tony and Becker. Judging by the number of off-duty cops sitting inside, it was an opinion shared by many. Gerard himself was an ex-cop, forced into early retirement by a bullet to the thigh during a hostage situation. He was tall and slightly balding, in his late fifties with a crooked smile that only grew when he saw Tony and the group enter.

"DiNozzo! It's been a while." The man stepped out from behind the counter, his hand outstretched to pat Tony on the back.

"Gerry my man, nice to see you." Tony replied, returning the welcoming smile. Gerard led them to a booth away from the bar as Tony introduced him to Gibbs and Abby. He left, taking their orders for beer and steak. Abby looked across the worn wooden table. There were no menus and she wondered if steak was the only meal sold.

"Just wait till you taste it. Then you'll know why," Tony said, watching her from the other side of the booth, where he was seated next to Becker. Gibbs almost found his self-assured smugness irritating, but then the meals arrived and he was forced to bite his tongue. They left early, well relatively early by Baltimore PD standards, since all four of them were still running low on sleep and they knew Friday would be hell.

It was close to midnight by the time Tony returned from his run and about a quarter past twelve when he hopped out of the shower, leaving a trail of water behind him as he stumbled into the kitchen, wrapped hastily in a wet towel, to answer his ringing cell phone. He cursed a little too loudly as he stubbed a toe on the lamp stand, forgetting Gibbs was sleeping on the couch in the same room.

The light flickered on just as Tony reached the phone and Gibbs' head popped up, looking fully alert. Tony glanced briefly at the caller ID, brow knotting in confusion as he held the phone up to his ear.

"DiNozzo… what? It's freaking Thursday, he's a day early…. Son of a bitch! When did it happen … alright, what's the address? … You're kidding me. Dammit! I'll be there in twenty minutes."

He hung up and ran his fingers through his hair, sending droplets of water onto the floor and kitchen counter. "I think we've got number eight."

Gibbs blinked. "What? Where?"

Tony sighed, tugging on the loosely tied towel around his hips to keep it from slipping. "Found her about 10 minutes ago out the back of a pub. Get this – it was Gerard's, that's how they found her so quickly. Bar full of cops and a girl still gets attacked out back."

"Did she get a look at him?" Gibbs questioned, standing up and reaching for his shirt.

Tony bit down on his lip, shaking his head. "I don't know. She's dead."

_TBC_


	11. Chapter 11

_Apologies for the slight delay in posting this. It took a little longer than usual to write. I could give you excuses, but they're pretty lame. So anyway, here's the next installment. Thank you for the awesome reviews, they definately liven up my day. Enjoy! _

_---Oh, I should mention that this chapter has a teensy bit of swearing in it. Blink and you'll miss it. I hope it doesn't offend anyone._

**Chapter Eleven**

"Could be a copycat," Tony said as they stood over the body of the latest victim. "But I don't think so."

"It's a day early," Gibbs said from beside him. They were standing out the back of Gerard's, a dimly lit area scattered with wooden and plastic crates, folded cardboard boxes and the cars of several employees. "I didn't see too many female cops when we were there, your guy usually takes someone from inside."

Tony squatted, flicking on his flashlight so he could see the face of the petite blonde lying on the concrete. "It's him. This is Mandy, she works here. She must've come on shift after we left."

"Still doesn't prove it's him," Gibbs said, knowing better than to make any assumptions.

"It's him," Tony said, eyes fixed on her face. "Female, mid twenties, just after midnight. We said his methods were evolving, escalating. Guess we were right."

"M.E says C.O.D is knife wound to the neck," Becker said, joining them from his conversation with the coroner. "Her throat was slashed," he added, even though it was obvious. Her blood had pooled, staining the concrete around her head. "The doc thinks it's pretty likely she was raped as well, although he's not sure until he gets her back to the morgue."

"Bastard's watching us. After last week with Abby at the club and now this, it's far beyond a coincidence. He's playing with us." Tony switched his torch off and walked away, watching as the crime scene investigators swarmed around the car park. About a dozen off-duty police officers from inside the bar were gathered at the edge of the newly-erected police tape, watching in almost horror. Most of them were uniforms and traffic cops, rarely viewing such a gruesome scene.

From a brief conversation with a mortified Gerard, Tony learnt that there were no CCTV cameras watching the back entrance of the bar. Mandy had started work at 10 o'clock and was rostered until 1:30 am, filling in the end half of a shift for another employee who'd become unwell. She'd gone outside for a cigarette at five to twelve and hadn't returned. When she didn't return after fifteen minutes, unusual for the never-tardy waitress, Gerard had ducked out to check on her. Only to find her sprawled in a pool of her own blood.

"Jesus," Tony muttered, patting the older man's hand. Years of police work had desensitized Gerard to a certain degree, but he looked upon all of his employees like family, Mandy especially as she was the youngest.

"DiNozzo!" It was James, a young cop standing in the crowd who Tony sometimes shot hoops with. "It's him, isn't it."

Tony didn't reply, but the look in his eyes was answer enough for James.

"You know the drill guys," Tony said to the group. "Let's keep this quiet for as long as possible."

He and Gibbs did a final scan of the scene, making sure no knives were hidden under any dumpsters, then headed back to the office. Gibbs called Abby from the road and they picked her up along the way. She'd be more useful in the forensics lab than any of the techs and assistants working the graveyard shift.

Becker was in the squad room by the time they arrived, coffee in hand. Gibbs sniffed the air appreciatively and departed to get his own. Since it was late, Tony escorted Abby down to the lab to make sure she wouldn't be alone. The lights were on and he could see Jake the lab assistant pottering around, so he signed off on the chain of evidence and left her to get to work.

"We're both thinking it so I'll just say it," Tony said, joining Becker back at his desk. "The guy's a psycho. And he's targeting us. Which means one of two things."

"He's tailing us," Becker began.

"Or it's an inside job," Tony said.

Becker snorted. "Are you suggesting that one of our people is behind this?"

"Or they could be passing on information," Tony said. "Think about it Dan, the first six attacks may have been random, but he's getting more violent and more personal. Only a cop could have known which club the two of us were watching last week, the information was never made public. And now a girl is attacked, killed outside of the most popular PD hangout in the area, hours after we eat there? A day early no less?"

"Jesus DiNozzo, you're accusing a cop of attacking eight women. Raping seven of them. Killing one of them." Becker retorted, quite loudly. "We put our lives on the line for the job! We stay up all night trying to catch the bad guys, enforce the law not break it – I can't believe you're even thinking this. Jesus Christ!"

"Dan, the Friday Rapist is mentally unstable. We've both seen it, sometimes you just can't tell. Some people are really good at hiding it."

"DiNozzo, stop. You're talking shit. Seriously, it's no wonder you've been bounced around from so many precincts, it's pretty obvious you have no sense of loyalty, honour, pride in the force."

Tony stared at Becker, a glare to rival one of Gibbs'. He shook his head, not bothering to reply.

A coffee in each hand, Gibbs returned from the 24hr café to be faced with stony silence in the squad room. Becker kept shooting snide angry looks at Tony, who had his eyes fixed on his computer screen. Gibbs waved the coffee in front of his face.

"Thanks," Tony smiled, pulling open his top drawer and grabbing a handful of sugar sachets. Gibbs watched and grimaced as Tony poured no less than six sachets into the coffee, stirring it with a pen.

"It's my weakness," Tony said unapologetically.

"Whatever works for you." Gibbs grabbed a file from the small mountain, continuing with their previous search for connections. There wasn't much else to do until they got some results from the lab. They worked in relative silence for some time, until Tony pushed the keyboard back and turned to look at Gibbs.

"Six attacks," he mused. "Why is he changing his methods? He was happy to rape woman after woman, but now he's driven to kill them. Why?"

"Because he can," Gibbs answered simply. "Six women and nothing happened, he hasn't been suspected yet. He's getting away with it, so now he's pushing the boundaries. And the more he does, the worse we look. It's an added bonus and now he's going out of his way to play with you. It's just going to increase until we kill him."

"Uh, you mean catch him, right Gibbs?" Tony interjected, looking a little nervous.

Gibbs stared at Tony. "Don't correct me." His fingers twitched and Tony felt a pressing need to step out of arms reach.

_TBC_


	12. Chapter 12

_Thank you lovely readers for the kind words. Sorry for the delay here - I forgot how much I suck at writing case fics. But hey - I think we're making progress here. Tell me what you think :) Hope you enjoy, thanks for reading!_

**Chapter Twelve**

Gibbs decided to visit Abby and see if she'd made any significant progress, while Tony went a floor lower to speak to the medical examiner. She was too busy to talk for long, but after hearing Gibbs' dilemma with Tony – "He just makes me want to slap him!" – she set down her test tube, pushed a button on a large and complicated machine then burst into a fit of giggles.

"What?"

Abby wiped her eyes, trying to suppress further laughter. "Nothing. It's just – I can't imagine what Stan would do if you slapped him on the back of the head. It's kind of kinky, bossman."

The glare Gibbs gave her was enough to set her off again.

"You got any results for me?" Gibbs asked loudly, knowing of all else, work would sober Abby up. The laughter desisted, and she grabbed a sheet of paper from the desk.

"Prints confirm the vic really is Mandy Winter, not that it's very useful information. Umm… the ME didn't get any unusual trace off the body, so I've got nothing to run there. Now I'm just working through the hundred or so fingerprints they picked up in the parking lot, but it's a long shot. This guy is seriously good, Gibbs. I mean, we know he doesn't wear gloves for whatever reason, but not a single hit so far! It's crazy."

Gibbs nodded. "Alright, thanks Abs." She leaned over for the customary kiss on her cheek then Gibbs left.

Any residual urges to slap DiNozzo vanished when he saw the young man re-enter the squad room upstairs. It seemed someone had beaten him to it; the side of Tony's face that had almost healed after his fight with the rapist was once again bright red and swollen, a small trail of blood trickling down from a cut above his eyebrow.

"DiNozzo! What the hell?"

Tony looked up at Gibbs' words and shrugged. "Must've walked into a door on my way back."

Gibbs growled and Tony sighed, sitting back down in his swivel-chair. "It's nothing Gibbs, really. Dan had some objections to my theory of someone on the inside. I guess he wasn't shy about voicing his opinions. Quite a few people around here aren't too happy with me right now."

Gibbs' hands clenched into fists and he looked around the room for the offending detective, ready to bust him back to walking a beat. Or pummel him some at least. Dan was in the hallway, talking to Melissa, the captain's assistant. Gibbs felt a hand wrap around his wrist. Tony. He gripped Gibbs' wrist tightly until the older man's hands relaxed.

"Don't, Gibbs," Tony warned. "It's not worth it. Vernski'll kick you out and Dan's no help to me if he's in a coma or whatever it is you're thinking of doing to him. Trust me, we've got bigger fish to fry."

Gibbs stared at Tony for a moment, then conceded. A rare sight for anyone familiar with Gibbs. "As soon as we catch this guy, he and I are going to have a long talk."

Tony laughed, clearly amused by his anger. He grinned cheerfully as Becker returned from his conversation. "You're doing the press conference today Dan. Don't think foundation's gonna be enough to cover this." He pointed a finger to his eye, which was almost swollen shut.

Becker eyed him, then nodded. "Right." He grabbed the proffered paper, Tony's pre-written statement then headed off to the vultures.

"I've been thinking," Tony said when Dan had returned after repeatedly warning all young women to stay home that night. "that we should stick with the police patrolling all the nightclubs tonight. But you and I should stay here. If my theory is correct –"

"Not this again DiNozzo!" Becker cut in.

"No, hear me out. If my theory is correct and there is an inside man, or at least someone following us, chances are there's going to be a victim at whichever club we visit. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not have another rape vic on my shoulders. So, we stay here instead. Best case scenario - the Friday Rapist takes the night off. Worst case - we'll be at a central location so we'll get to the scene quickly."

Becker frowned, but nodded reluctantly.

-------------------------------------------------------

At 1:34 am Saturday morning, a shrill buzzing noise filled the air. Tony groaned, lifting his head from a desk cluttered with Chinese food cartons, case files and even an incomplete crossword puzzle and began rummaging around for his ringing phone. He woke up quickly as he scrambled for the phone. He knew what would be waiting on the other end.

"Z Club," Tony announced to the room, holding the phone to his chest. He was referring to a trendy new bar that had just opened in the centre of the city. Snapping the phone shut, he turned back to Gibbs and Becker.

"Female DB, found in the middle of the street out the back of the club twelve minutes ago. Witnesses saw a man dressed in black lurking around the back exit, one of them might be able to give us a description. Let's roll." Tony grabbed his backpack and car keys, striding out of the room with Gibbs and Becker in tow.

The crime scene was taped off by the time they arrived, squad cars blocking the body from the view of the nosy spectators. "We've got an ID," James said somberly to Tony as he approached, leading the group. "Lisa Jefferies."

"Wait, what? It can't be, there must be –"

"It's her Tony. I've met her a few times, I recognized the face."

Tony swore and James patted him on the shoulder with a sad smile.

"What's going on?" Becker called out.

Tony drew on his best poker face as he turned around, trying to figure out how to tell his partner and friend that his girlfriend was dead.

_TBC_


	13. Chapter 13

_Thank you for the reviews :) Apologies for not updating sooner, but I hope you enjoy this. The end is actually in sight now, believe it or not :)_

**Chapter Thirteen**

"Dan, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Tony finished, running a hand through is hair. Becker just stared; stared at Tony, at Gibbs, at the patrol cars blocking Lisa's body. Then he lunged, grabbing Tony's jacket with both hands.

"You bastard! You killed her! You killed her!"

Tony fell back as Dan was restrained by three officers, still screaming at Tony. He felt Gibbs' hand touch his back, steadying him. He watched as Dan lurched away from the three officers surrounding him, vomiting violently into the gutter.

"Jesus," he heard Gibbs mutter. "What the hell was she doing out?"

Tony shook her head. "Dan can't have known. He'd never have let Lisa go clubbing on a Friday."

Gibbs was silent for a moment, watching sadly as Tony's once strong and arrogant partner broke down into tears, pounding the road with his fist.

"Let's get to work."

---------------------

"Becker's off this case, obviously." Vernski told them grimly, pacing the length of his office. "We don't have time to brief a replacement. You –" he pointed to Gibbs. "You still have no real jurisdiction on this case. But I called around, spoke to that Tom Morrow fellow. You're good. So I'm going to let you stay. Run lead on this investigation with DiNozzo here."

Gibbs nodded, looking both annoyed and amused at being given permission to do what he'd already been doing for the past week.

"I'm going to give the statement to the media. I don't want you talking to any media for the moment DiNozzo. That will be all." Vernski dismissed them with a brief nod.

"How popular is Becker around here?" Gibbs asked once they were back in the squadroom.

"He's a 4th generation cop Gibbs. It's in his blood. He rubs pretty much every person here up the wrong way, but it's accepted, expected even of him."

"So how many people know Lisa?"

Tony leant back in his chair. "They've been dating – I mean they dated for as long as I've worked here. More probably, I never asked. She picks him up after work sometimes. I guess anyone with access to the parking lot could've seen them together."

"In other words, any one of the hundreds of people who work in this building. This is beyond any over-zealous psychopath who's decided to start stalking." Gibbs frowned. "My gut says it's an inside job."

Tony nodded in agreement, his fingers moving up to touch his bruised and all-but-swollen-over eye.

"From now on, everything stays between you and me." Gibbs stated.

"And the lab, kinda have to leave them in the loop." Tony added.

"Abby's going to be overseeing everything related to the case then."

Tony laughed. "Won't be a problem Gibbs. I think all the techs and assistants are either in love with her or completely and utterly terrified by her."

Gibbs smirked. "Yeah, she has that effect on people."

---------------------

"All of it? By myself?" Abby stared at Gibbs, wide-eyed.

"You heard me Abs. I don't trust anyone else."

Abby beamed at the compliment, but quickly screwed her face up in a grimace. "Gibbs, there are like a few hundred prints just from the crime scene at Gerard's. I haven't even started on the Z Club ones, I've got to scan them all into the system to run the search, log the evidence, run traces and DNA…"

Gibbs interrupted her with a kiss to the forehead. He handed her a four-pack of Red Bull he'd been holding behind his back. "Closest I could get to Caff-Pow. I'm sure it'll taste just as terrible."

He turned back as he was leaving. "You can do this Abs."

---------------------

"Damn it!" Tony cursed, rifling through the fridge in the break room. "Somebody took all my Red Bull."

"Stuff's no good for you DiNozzo," Gibbs replied, appearing in the doorway.

"And coffee's any better?"

Gibbs glared at Tony. His smile quickly vanished. "I mean, coffee is great. I love coffee. Let's have some right now."

Gibbs nodded. "That's better."

An hour later Gibbs called Abby for an update.

"I'm almost done with the prints from Gerard's, Gibbs," Abby announced cheerfully through the speaker phone in the lab. "DNA's running as well, but it's a 24 hour turnaround at least. Mass spec is working on a sticky substance I pulled off Mandy the barmaid's shirt. But it could easily be beer or softdrink, don't get your hopes up on that one."

Gibbs nodded on the other end of the phone. "Good Abs. And where are you with the evidence from the Z Club?"

Abby sighed. "I'm starting with the prints; the hot forensic guy dropped off several dozen they picked up at the scene. You know, it takes forever to scan them into the system, but it's not a complicated process. I'd get so much more done if I could just get one of the lab assistants…"

"No Abs." Gibbs cut her off.

"Aww, Gibbs? But I'm all lonely down here! They don't even have a CD player for me to dance to."

"Alright Abby," Gibbs gave in. "I'll tell you what; once Tony is done making a sketch from the witness' description, I'll send him down to help."

"Perfect." Gibbs could hear her smile through the phone. "Thanks bossma-" Gibbs hung up before she could finish.

"Thanks for your help," Tony said behind Gibbs, shaking hands with the young woman who'd come in to help with the sketch of the suspect. A uniform stood waiting to drive her home.

"It's not really detailed," Tony said, spinning in his chair to face Gibbs and flipping the sketchpad open to show him. "But I guess it's better than nothing. And it matches what I remember seeing of the guy."

Gibbs studied the rough sketch. A white male with dark hair. "Recognize him?"

Tony stifled a laugh. "Gibbs, it's could be any one of fifty white males who work in this building. The witness only saw him in the shadows of the club, I don't think saw much more of him than I did. White male, short brown or black hair, average height, either green or brown eyes. Even I fit the description for all the use it serves. We can't identify, let alone arrest anyone based on this."

Gibbs nodded. "Well if you're finished with that, Abby needs some help downstairs. I don't want anyone else accessing the evidence."

"Sure," Tony agreed readily, standing up and stretching.

Gibbs handed him a CD player he'd found in a store room. "Take this too."

Tony looked at it, slightly confused, but shrugged and picked it up. "I just remembered, Abby promised she'd show me her latest tattoo." He smiled a toothy grin.

Gibbs' fingers twitched again, but Tony was already halfway down the hallway.

_TBC :)_


	14. Chapter 14

_A case-development chapter for you. Hopefully it makes sense! Thank you for the encouraging reviews and for sticking with me :) We're almost there._

**Chapter Fourteen**

"Tony!" Abby beamed, taking his hand and leading him to a stool at a desk.

"Abby," Tony returned the smile, frowning slightly as he watched her chug the last of a can of Red Bull, tossing it on top of another three empty cans in the trash. "So, what mystical scientific experiments am I going to attempt and ruin for you today?"

Abby giggled, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Oh don't be like that. I bet you're a natural scientist."

"Sorry to disappoint but I majored in phys-ed."

Abby gave him a once-over, nodding in approval. "I thought you were pretty well built. You can start on those." She pointed to the large pile of clear fingerprint slips collected from the scene. "Pretty simple stuff. You take the print, put it on the scanner and hit the big green button." She demonstrated slowly. "Then once it's scanned into the system, you hit the search button on the computer, cross your fingers and hope for results, then start scanning the next print. Easy!"

Tony nodded, copying her actions and grinning with success when the fingerprint scanned successfully.

"Nice," Abby remarked, hearing the tell-tale 'ding' of the computer from across the room. She was busy rifling through test tubes and pressing buttons on the large machine that Tony had never taken the time to learn the name of.

"You know," she called out, carrying the tray of test tubes to a closer bench. "We never really got to finish our conversation."

"And what conversation was that?" Tony asked, knowing perfectly well which one she was referring to.

"We were discussing the ins and outs of why a tall, hot cop is single in a big city like this."

"Is that an offer?"

Abby laughed. "I don't know. If it's going to get me a straight answer, maybe."

Tony raised an eyebrow suggestively. "I'm not sure how Gibbs would feel about that. I don't think I'd like to find out. But, since you asked so… I'd say 'nicely' but I think 'enthusiastically' is the better word, there've been plenty of women." He grinned at the memory. "Just none right now."

"Plenty? Maybe you've run the city dry of beautiful women then."

"No chance of that Abs, I've haven't even lived here for two years. The fish are biting, believe me."

They exchanged a dirty grin, before Abby laughed wickedly.

"So, if you're such a ladies man, did the hoards of flame-bearing jealous women chase you out of –"

"Philly," Tony supplied. "And no, I was not driven out of town by jilted ex-lovers. I'll have you know that I'm still on speaking terms with most of my exes."

"Keyword being most?"

"Don't go there," Tony warned, holding up his index finger. "Don't you have chemicals to mix and complicated machinery to operate? Or does Gibbs pay you to chat?"

"I can multitask," Abby poked out her tongue, raising the tray of test tubes she'd finished sorting. "Unlike you." She pointed to the pile of fingerprint slips. Tony had only managed to make a small dent in the peak of it.

"Do you normally do all this yourself? Seems like a lot for one person," Tony frowned at the fingerprint scanner.

"Well that's why you're here. Ordinarily I'd just get a lab assistant to scan all of those, but Gibbs wouldn't let me. Not that I mind or anything; you're far more attractive and interesting than any of the geeks working here." She took a deep breath. "Do you think Gibbs is being paranoid about this all?"

"Gibbs? Nah. I mean, he doesn't want anyone to access the evidence. They could tamper with it or something, couldn't they?"

Abby nodded fervently, the effects of 4 cans of Red Bull quite obvious. "Sure, there's plenty of ways to screw up a test or whatever."

"Damn." Tony's hands stopped moving. The computer flashed at him impatiently.

"Tony?" Abby stepped closer, trying to get his attention.

"Huh? – Oh, right. Sorry." Tony blinked, still staring at the pile of fingerprints.

"What are you thinking? You've got a funny look about you…"

Tony stood up, walking around the desk so he was face to face with Abby. "I think I figured this out. We've had nine crime scenes, nine victims, right?" Abby nodded and he continued. "Nine cases and yet no real leads. No prints, no DNA hits."

"Yet." Abby cut in, throwing a glance to her humming mass spectrometer.

"Yet. I mean, whoever we're dealing with is obviously good, disturbingly good at what he does. But nobody's that good. He doesn't wear gloves but we haven't been able to match up any prints between the crime scenes, let alone get a hit from any of the databases. That just doesn't make sense."

Tony took a few steps around the room, his mind racing.

"I mean, I'm a cop not a scientist so I don't know the figures or anything, but it's just not possible. No hits, no matches, no substantial evidence. Nine cases. What are the chances of that?"

Abby tilted her head in agreement, still not seeing the reason for Tony's excitement. Unless, she figured, he'd found some more Red Bull somewhere.

"That's it Abby. It doesn't make sense! It isn't possible!" He grabbed both her hands.

"I don't – Tony?" Abby was lost.

"We know it's an inside job. We just didn't know whereabouts inside."

"… and now we do?"

"Gibbs doesn't want anyone tampering with the evidence, but what if its already been tampered with? I mean, we're literally swimming in it now and between the techs and assistants and the evidence changing hands every time a new shift clocks on, chances are nobody would notice a minor discrepancy in the results. We don't know what we're looking for, so we're not going to miss any results we don't receive. It's gotta be someone from down here, someone working the forensics."

"Tony, I get what you're saying, but we've been running the evidence for the last two cases alone, no involvement from any of the labrats here. Nobody could have messed with it so, if what you're saying is correct, we should have had a match or something by now."

As if on cue, Tony's computer beeped. They walked across to it. _MATCH FOUND _flashed across the screen in green. Abby sat down on the stool, her fingers flying across the keyboard.

"Tony, you're – it doesn't make sense…" She hit several more keys, then turned back to face the detective. "The print you just scanned was from Lisa Jefferies' belt buckle. It matches prints pulled from all eight other crime scenes. Including the print from the knife…" Abby trailed off, eyes darting down to the scratch marks still lining her arms.

Tony stood behind Abby at the computer, his hands resting reassuringly on her shoulders. "That's good news, isn't it? It's definitely the killer's print then. So what's the problem?"

"It just – it doesn't fit with your theory. All police officers have their prints in the system, right?"

"All Government employees do." Tony agreed.

"So if the Friday Rapist is someone from the inside, their prints should be in the database, we should have gotten an almost immediate ID on the prints. But all the search has given us is just a connection between the nine crime scenes, the print is common to each of them. It don't match any in the system. I'll run the program again to check, but it isn't giving us any hits."

Abby twisted around, staring up at Tony. "I don't know how to explain it, but this can't be an inside job."

_TBC_


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

Tony shook his head resolutely. "No Abs, that's not possible. I know I'm right, it has to be someone down here."

"They call that a gut feeling." Gibbs said from the doorway. "What have you got?"

"We found one print that's common to all nine crime scenes," Abby reported, hitting keys on the keyboard.

"And why haven't we found this sooner?"

"That's my point!" Tony raised his hands in frustration. "The data's been tampered with, otherwise we would have gotten results sooner. Which means that somebody working in this department is our guy."

"Then what's the problem here?" Gibbs frowned.

"If it was someone from forensics, their prints would be in the system," Abby said. "The prints don't match any from the databases." She turned to Tony and their eyes met.

"Abby… it's not possible to delete a name from the database, is it?"

"No, once you're in it, you stay in it. Even if you quit or get fired, your name, photo, basic information remains in the system."

"We've established that whoever is doing this messed with the fingerprint information, right?"

Gibbs' lips twitched as he watched DiNozzo. He'd seen that look before; the sparks of inspiration flying in his eyes. It was the look of a person who'd just cracked a case. Abby nodded to Tony.

"So we know our guy is a computer geek, it's pretty much a job requirement down here." Tony said, tilting his head toward the door separating Abby's lab from the rest of the forensic department. "Who's to say he hasn't altered his own information in the system? All he has to do is swap his fingerprints for someone that hasn't been entered into the database, nobody's going to notice and he gets away with rape and murder."

"Abby, can you see which profiles have been modified recently?" Gibbs asked.

"I can, narrowing it down to the weeks around the time when the attacks first began. But it's not going to help if he modified the prints before that, or if he was recently employed here."

"How many people work in forensics here?" Gibbs turned to Tony.

"Including part-time and assistants… about twenty people. We use keycards rather than fingerprint scans to access the building here, so he could have changed the prints months ago and there's no reason for anyone to notice; the bastard's obviously been planning the attacks."

"Tony's right, Gibbs," Abby piped up. "It'll be faster if we retake the prints of everyone working here and compare them to the print at the nine crime scenes."

"And while you're at it, go over the rosters over the past eight weeks, the guy has to have worked on all seven cases until you took over," Gibbs added. Abby jumped up, hurrying back to her own computer to access the staff documents.

"The morning shift will be in pretty soon." Tony noted.

"I'm going to make sure the night shift don't go anywhere," Gibbs decided, heading for the door. "Call me as soon as you get something Abs. Tony, grab an ink pad and start getting their prints."

Ten minutes later Tony returned with prints from all seven members of the night shift. Gibbs had remained, waiting for the morning staff to arrive and keeping an eye on the night shift.

"You want me to scan these in?" Tony called out, holding up the papers. Abby pushed herself across on the swivel-chair.

"Nah, I'll do the comparison by hand. I've downloaded the staff rosters over the past eight weeks around the times of the attacks. See if you can find a connection while I do this."

Tony grabbed a chair and began a program search, setting it to sweep through each of the rosters for a common name. He watched Abby as she held up a magnifying glass, trying to match the fingerprint from the belt buckle to each of the prints from the forensic staff.

"I think I've got something," she called out. Tony walked over. Through the small glass pane on the door he could see Captain Vernski talking to Gibbs in the hallway. Gibbs didn't look happy.

"I'll put it into the computer to be sure, but I think this is a match."

Tony looked down at the two prints Abby was comparing. They were, as far as he could tell, identical.

"Who's is it?"

"Jake Anders." Abby read from the paper.

"Jake? As in nerdy Jake the lab assistant? – Are you sure?" Tony's computer beeped and he walked back to check on it. "Abs you're right, he was working evidence on all seven cases."

"Jake's the Friday Rapist." Abby's wide eyes met Tony's. "I never would have thought… I mean, he's so quiet… I guess he does fit the profile."

Abby picked up the phone to call Gibbs. Tony could see he was still stuck at the end of the hall in conversation with Vernski. His eyes darted across to the adjacent room where the seven members of the night shift had been placed, looking for Jake. He counted six people.

"Jake's gone, Abby."

When she didn't reply, Tony turned from the window. As he did, he heard a faint but distinctive 'click'. A loaded gun.

"I know," Abby whispered. Jake stood behind her, his arm crooked around her neck.

"The one that got away," he hissed into her ear. She flinched, unable to move. Tony moved forward, but Jake swung the gun around so it was pointing at Tony, tightening his hold on Abby. "One more step and I'll shoot. Now, we're leaving. Any attempts to alert anyone or escape and I'll blow your brains out." He squeezed on Abby's neck and she whimpered.

Slowly, Tony reached for his gun. He cursed mentally when he realized it was still upstairs in his desk where he'd left it to interview the witness. Jake watched him with a smirk. "Don't tempt me DiNozzo. I've got nothing left to lose, I will shoot you if you try anything. And once you're dead, I can finish what I started with Abby before you so rudely interrupted us. Now step away from the door. We're going out the back exit."

Still pointing the gun at Tony, Jake began backing out of the lab through the second door, dragging Abby with him. With one last despairing glance over his shoulder, Tony followed closely. The door to the stairwell thudded shut and Tony's eyes met Abby's. They were both thinking the same thing.

Gibbs.

_TBC_

_Well, hopefully this is a start towards answering your questions :) More to come, I promise, although not for about a week; I don't have access to a computer until then. I hope this will tide you over until then, lol. Thanks so much for the reviews! I really appreciate them and again, I'm really sorry if I haven't responded to you personally. Have a great day!_


	16. Chapter 16

_Thanks for the reviews! You guys are great. Sorry about the delay, hope this was worth the wait :)_

**Chapter Sixteen**

Gibbs stood in the corridor, supervising as Tony shepherded all of the techs and assistants to one room and proceeded to take their prints. He smiled secretly as he watched. The kid was friendly and efficient, flirting with every female in the room and joking with most of the males. As an assembled group, the techs were every bit stereotypical nerds; whiny, neurotic, uncoordinated and just plain annoying. Gibbs, not for the first time, tanked his lucky stars he had Abby. There was no way he'd be able to work with any one of these techs on a regular basis. He doubted any of them would last long working under him at NCIS anyway. Tony didn't seem to have any problems interacting with them and he finished within a few minutes. He grinned cheerily at Gibbs on the way out, returning to Abby in the other lab.

Standing in the doorway, Gibbs stared at the seven other occupants of the room. None would meet his gaze. His concentration was broken by a sharp rap on the glass window. Turning, Gibbs saw Vernski, the bumbling police captain, standing in the hallway. Vernski twitched his index finger, indicating for Gibbs to join him outside. Gibbs gave a final glare to the techs before striding out to talk to the captain. A glance through the window of Abby's temporary home told him she and Tony were hard at work.

"Agent Gibbs," Vernski began.

"That's _Special_ Agent Gibbs," Gibbs interrupted, his patience quickly depleting.

"Yes, yes. Anyway, I've come down here to speak to you about your involvement in these cases. I had my assistant call you, but she couldn't get through; maybe she rang the wrong number…"

Gibbs gave his cell phone a cursory glance. Damn thing had stopped working for some reason, the screen was all black. He'd been meaning to ask Abby to fix it or reboot it or something.

"Anyway, as we discussed earlier," Vernski continued. "I'm happy for ou to share the lead on this investigation with DiNozzo. But I was hoping as part of this arrangement, in the spirit of cooperation, you would release a statement to the press."

Gibbs gave Vernski an evil look, radiating annoyance from all of his being. Oblivious, Vernksi kept talking.

"Ordinarily DiNozzo handles the media duties, but with the black eye and Becker out of commission, you're the best we've got. Although, come to think of it, it wouldn't hurt the public morale to have a federal agent in the public view."

"I'd prefer to discuss the circumstances surrounding DiNozzo's black eye," Gibbs replied, eyeing the man.

Vernski laughed. "Agent Gibbs, I'm sure you understand. The men working for me are young lads, they play rough sometimes. From what I heard, it was an accident; all in fun."

Gibbs's hand clenched into a fist as he resisted the urge to punch the man in the face. It was only the thought of both the subsequent paperwork and the lecture he'd receive from Tom Morrow that stopped him from doing so.

"I've got real work to do," he snarled, turning back to the room of techs.

"But the press conference??" Vernski called after him.

Gibbs froze, but it had nothing to do with Vernski. There were only six people in the room. A quick scan told him who was missing – the young, shifty eyed man.

"Where is he?" Gibbs shouted to the room.

The remaining techies offered no assistance, cowering in fear and grappling for their inhalers. Gibbs flew out of the room, barging straight into Abby's lab. It was empty, the techno music reverberating off the walls. Two computers flashed impatiently, a single face flashing on each monitor above the words: MATCH FOUND. Jake Anders.

Gibbs cursed Vernski, his eyes darting around the room in search of alternate exits. Anders may have slipped out of the room while he was distracted with the police captain, but there was no way a lab assistant/serial rapist/murderer, a trained police officer and a lab technician in knee-high platform boots could have left via the hallway without somebody noticing.

A window presented the first possible escape route, but it was small and highly unlikely that three people, even under coercion, could have slipped out within the small time frame. The other possibility was the alternate door to the lab.

Pistol in hand, Gibbs crept toward it, easing the door open. It led to a small passageway and … a stairwell. Gibbs smirked to himself. The building was six stories high and the forensics lab was one level underground. Seven flights of stairs. Six floors, all filled with armed, trained police officers, most of them already at work. Anders was trapped.

---------------------------------

"So what's the great plan, Jakie?" Tony asked, walking in front of Jake and a loaded 9mm up the third flight of stairs. "I mean, the game's over. By now, everyone has noticed you're missing and they'll have assumed you're guilty – which you are. Gibbs in particular – you know him; tall guy, silver hair, likes to stare at people – is going to be very pissed. He's not the kind of guy you want to get on the bad side of, you know what I mean Jakie?"

"Neither am I, smart guy. Just remember who's holding the gun here," Jake said, prodding Tony with the tip of the pistol.

"Oh, how could I." Tony muttered, trying not to flinch at the touch of the cold metal.

Following behind Tony and Jake, the latter's fingernails digging into her still-tender wrists as he dragged her along, Abby bit her lip. She was determined not to cry. Jake wouldn't approve of her making any noise and she didn't want to provoke any violent reactions. He was seriously unstable.

Taking advantage of the distraction provided by Tony, she reached into the pocket of her skirt where her cell phone sat. Fingers operating on auto-pilot, she hit the call button on speed-dial number one. Gibbs.

The call failed and the phone beeped loudly in protest. Abby jerked her hand out of her pocket as Jake's head snapped around, sending the phone bouncing down the stairs behind her until it fell through a gap.

"Who'd you call?" Jake shouted, pulling Abby roughly up the step toward him. "Who'd you call bitch?!"

Two flights below, Gibbs heard voices floating down the stairwell and hastened his climb. Something black flew past his head, shattering on the landing beside him. Gibbs recognized a cracked skull-and-crossbones decal. Abby's phone. He launched into a sprint.

Abby refused to speak, frozen in fear of the gun-wielding maniac clenching her by both wrists. Jake swore, slapping her hard across the face. As his friend fell to her knees on the concrete step, gasping in shock and pain, Tony saw red, letting go of any rational thought. He lunged, grabbing Jake by he shoulders and shoving him backward. Together they fell, rolling and bouncing down the stairs until both of their heads connected with the metal landing of the first floor.

Eyes closed and dazed, Tony heard the sharp click of the safety being released and winced…

_TBC_


	17. Chapter 17

_2 cliffies in a row! I'm evil, I know. So this story is coming to an end. This is one of the last chapters (see the A/N at the bottom). Thanks for reading and for the reviews! Hugs :)_

* * *

**Chapter Seventeen**

_Eyes closed and dazed, Tony heard the sharp click of the safety being released and winced…_

… and then waited. When he didn't hear the bang of the gun, feel the pain of the bullet exploding through flesh and metal, he opened his eyes slightly. The world was spinning almost sickeningly, but he could see Jake sprawled on the landing beside him. The gun was nowhere in sight which meant…

"Nice tackle DiNozzo." Gibbs slipped his gun back into the holster, heaving Jake's limp form off the ground with ease. He cuffed him and dumped him back on the floor. Jake groaned, slumped against the wall.

"You okay Abs?" Gibbs called out, meeting her as she descended the flight of stairs Tony and Jake had just tumbled down. She nodded, hugging Gibbs tightly. By the time they separated and Gibbs could breathe again, Tony had managed to peel himself off the floor, pulling himself to his feet.

"Omigod Tony, you saved us!" Abby squealed, zoning in for a hug before stopping in her tracks. "You-your shoulder, Tony!"

Tony followed her finger and looked down, noticing for the first time that his shoulder was jutting out at a disgustingly unnatural angle, the adrenalin coursing through his veins masking the pain.

"Oh yeah."

"Tony, you really need a doctor." Abby reached for her phone, forgetting it lay broken in tiny pieces several floors below.

"Nah, it's okay," Tony said with a wave of his good arm. "I want to get him into interrogation and close this case. God knows it's been open for long enough."

He was cut off by a swift slap to the back of the head.

"Wha- what the hell?? What was that for?"

Gibbs stared at him. He'd been unable to resist any longer. "You realize how dumb that was? You could've broken your neck jumping down the stairs, not to mention the fact that he was holding a _loaded gun_!"

He turned to Abby. "Abs, can you drive him to hospital. I'm going to take Anders to a cell, I'll meet you there."

Gibbs pulled Jake up and began dragging him to the door on the landing, past Tony and Abby. He shoved Jake forward roughly before turning back.

"And Tony? Good work."

-----------------------------------

Jake Anders stared at his reflection in the large mirror of the room he'd been locked in for the last thirty minutes. The door to the room flew open and Gibbs stormed in, extra-large coffee in had. He sat down opposite Jake, unleashing his most bone-chilling glare.

Apart from a sprained wrist, bandaged by a paramedic, and a bump on the head, Jake was fine. Tony had definitely taken the brunt of the fall.

"What?" Jake burst out finally, unnerved by several minutes of silence. Gibbs sipped his coffee, setting it down on the table.

"Nothing. We've got you on multiple charges of murder one, rape, attempted murder, assault, tampering with evidence, not to mention kidnapping a police officer and an employee of a federal agency. You don't need to say anything; no matter how good your lawyer is, you're going away for the rest of your life. What I want to know is why."

Jake smirked and Gibbs recognized the dark, emotionless eyes from Tony's first sketch.

"You know," Jake began. "I've spent my whole life being the little guy. People push me around just because they can. Nobody treats the forensic staff properly, me even less because I'm just an assistant. They walk all over me to get what they want. But here, I call the shots. I have all the power. People respect me."

"People fear you. You're a murderer. Nobody respects you." Gibbs replied dryly. "Why DiNozzo and Becker then?"

"It was just too easy," Jake grinned. "A few altered fingerprints here and there and they were clueless. DiNozzo was okay, he was one of the few people who treated my nicely here. But he's one of those people; everyone like him, he can do whatever he wants and nobody will mind. He's just like the jocks and fratboys who made my life hell just to get a laugh. They couldn't catch me, so I thought I'd use my powers for good. Karma. Make it personal, show them how it feels when someone is constantly messing with your life."

"And Becker?"

Jake's face darkened. "Becker was the worst of all of them. He dumps his evidence down on the middle of our desks, no matter what we're working on and demands priority. Then he calls and abuses us when it takes too long, even though there's a 24 hour turnaround on DNA, everyone knows that. Asshole. Everyone here just lets him, because _he's Dan_. He's a bully. A vicious bully. I've met enough people like him in my life, but he was the worst. He deserved everything he got."

"I think his girlfriend's family and friends would disagree."

"She deserved it, trust me." Jake laughed. "Dating a guy like Dan Becker –"

The door slammed as Gibbs left.

--------------

Abby sat cross-legged on the end of Tony's hospital bed, digging into his green Jello as she channel-surfed.

"Tony, look!" She shook his foot, pointing to the TV. Gibbs' face filled the screen. The caption below read "Leroy Gibbs, NICS".

"…the man known as the Friday Rapist has been apprehended." Gibbs read stiffly from a sheet of paper, glaring into the camera. "He has admitted to all charges and will face the courts early next week. We are not releasing any further information at this stage." Gibbs crumpled the piece of paper, gave a pointed glare to Vernski, standing to the side of the screen, then barged his way through the huge crowd of reporters and cameramen.

"He looks good," Abby mused, licking the spoon clean.

"That right Abs?" Gibbs walked into the room, handing her a Red Bull and a chocolate bar.

"Gibbs – how'd you get here so quickly? I mean I know you drive like a lunatic, but it's at least ten minutes from the station to here and that's without traffic. Then there's parking and –"

"It's a replay Abby," Gibbs said, patting her head.

"He talked?"

Gibbs nodded.

"Remind me never to get a lab assistant. Did he say why'd he did it?" Abby looked down at her wrists, the scratch-marks still faintly visible.

"You don't wanna know." Gibbs stood over the bed. "How is he?"

"I'm fine!" Tony said, opening his eyes and wrinkling his nose. "They won't let me leave and Abby refuses to go sweet talk the nurses into a discharge."

"Yeah, but then I wouldn't be able to eat your dessert." Abby looked up at Gibbs, ignoring Tony's pout. "He has a concussion. And a dislocated shoulder and bruised ribs. At least if he stays here he can't do anything stupid. Like jump down stairs…"

"I hate hospitals," Tony muttered.

Gibbs gave him an understanding nod, then left the room without a word. He returned ten minutes later, fresh cup of coffee in hand. "I spoke to your doctor and Ducky. They both say you can leave."

"Yes!!!" Tony punched the air with his un-slinged arm.

"But-" Tony's face fell as Gibbs cut in. "You're going to take your medication. And you're going to get some rest."

"I will." Tony nodded, wincing immediately at the motion.

"I know," Gibbs smiled evilly. "Abby and I are going to make sure of it."

_To Be Concluded..._

_So, here's where it's up to you. Do you want a hurt/comfort chapter with Gibbs and Abby looking after Tony, or will we just go straight to the epilogue? Tell me what you want, I can do either :)_


	18. Chapter 18

_Wow, 49 reviews for one chapter is totally overwhelming to say the least! So the votes are in and we have 39 votes for the H/C and 4 votes for the epilogue. Majority rules; here's your chapter. I hope it's to your liking :D Maybe a little more whumping than comforting, but that's how I roll :P And, because I aim to please, I've added the epilogue as well, so if you don't want to read this, feel free to jump straight to the epilogue :) Enjoy! Oh, and keep in mind that I wrote this after the epilogue. Not that it matters. Anyways._

**Chapter Eighteen**

By the time Gibbs and Abby arranged Tony's discharge papers, filled out his multiple prescriptions, helped him change out of the hospital gown and wheedled, then ordered him to get into the wheelchair well over an hour had passed. Gibbs, driving like a sane man for once, took Tony in his sedan while Abby followed in Tony's car which she'd used to drive him to hospital.

Gibbs glanced across at his unusually silent passenger. Tony was resting his head on the cool glass of the window, eyes firmly closed.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," Tony muttered softly. "Stupid concussion."

The car pulled into the parking lot of Tony's building and Gibbs went around to open Tony's door. Tony was embarrassed by how much he was forced to lean on Gibbs, the combined effect of the shoulder injury and the pain meds throwing off his balance. Gibbs gripped him, gently but firmly, guiding him inside. Somewhere in the haze of Tony's mind it registered that this was a side of Gibbs he'd never before seen, except in snatches of affection to Abby. Gibbs being kind and caring. Who woulda thought.

Abby pulled in behind them and toddled over in her boots, standing on the other side of Tony and resting her hand on his back to guide him forward. In any other situation, Tony would have resisted, but he couldn't find the energy, letting her and Gibbs take almost all of his weight.

When he opened his eyes again they were inside his home. He felt Gibbs' hand on his good shoulder, gently pushing him down onto the bed, wedging a squishy pillow under his other arm. He could hear Abby fidgeting at the back of the room.

"Is he okay Gibbs?" She asked softly. "Does he need medication or food or something?"

He snorted even though it hurt his head. "Stop worrying Abby. Meds are already kicking in. I'll be fine. I've hit my head harder."

The king size bed shifted as Abby sat down beside him. "You have a concussion Tony. I find it very worrying that you do this frequently."

He closed his eyes as her fingers stroked his fringe. "Relax. I played college sport Abs. Football. Plenty of head-hitting action there."

Abby said something in reply but Tony didn't catch it, the sedative component of the medication dragging him into sleep.

-----------------------------------------

Several hours later a strong ray of light from a tiny gap in the curtains hit Tony right between the eyes, bringing him back into consciousness. He grunted in annoyance, rolling onto his good arm so his back was to the light.

"Damn curtains," he muttered in frustration. His head pounded and he wanted nothing more than to go to sleep and not wake up until the effects of the concussion subsided. But it was no good; he was aware of the light. He couldn't escape it.

The bedroom door swung open and it was all he could do not to scream out in agony as a foray of sunlight shone in, assaulting his retinas.

"Ungh." He pushed his face into the crook of his elbow, blocking out the brightness until he heard the click of the door closing and it was relatively dark again.

"My apologies Anthony. Light sensitivity is a common symptom of concussions, although they usually don't present for several hours or indeed days after the initial impact. All of which is quite consistent with your case. From what I hear it was quite a tumble. I do recall an eventful day in my youth –"

"Ducky!" Tony muttered, resisting the urge to pull a pillow over his head. It would probably require too much energy.

He heard Ducky chuckle. "I'll tell you the rest of the story when you're feeling better. Speaking of which, how do you feel?"

Tony closed his eyes as he tried to figure out how exactly he felt. His shoulder was okay; no aching or throbbing. Apart from the strange, almost detached painfulness he'd felt when the adrenalin had worn off, before they reduced the dislocation, his shoulder hadn't bothered him too much. The doctor told him that pain would come later, probably within a few days as the concussion faded and his body set about healing itself, the fluids returning to the damaged joint.

He felt nauseous and hoped vehemently that Ducky would know better than to even mention food – he wasn't sure, but the way his stomach was acting, even an audible offer of food could be enough to make him throw up. And that would do wonders for his head.

Tony was no stranger to concussions, but unfortunately experience didn't diminish the effects. His head pounded, like his brain was pulsating within the strict confines of his skull. Every sound, every vibration, every footstep sent shockwaves through his head, gave him the feeling that brain was rattling against bone. The light from the door and window had felt like lasers cutting through him, scorching his eyes.

"'M okay." He managed finally, squinting up at Ducky. "Why're you here?"

Ducky patted his hand gently. Tony found the warmth kind of soothing. "Dear boy, I came to see you. After how hard you've worked and how you helped Abigail, a forty minute drive is but the smallest of troubles. Here, this should help."

He pried Tony's hand open, depositing two oval-shaped pills on his palm. "Paracetemol. For the headache."

Tony smiled gratefully in Ducky's general direction, shoving the pills into his mouth. He felt something smooth and cool in his hand.

"Milk," Ducky said. "I imagine you won't be hungry for some time, but that's no excuse to damage your stomach lining."

Tony grimaced but allowed Ducky to guide the glass to his lips. Ducky patted his hand once more and straightened up. To Tony's relief he pulled the curtains completely shut.

"Get some rest," Ducky directed, standing by the door. This time Tony was prepared, blocking his eyes from the light.

A few minutes later the door opened slightly and a sock-clad figure darted in.

"Abby." Tony smiled, the meds taking the painful edge off.

"Shoot!" She hissed, coming to a stop in front of him. "I'm sorry Tony, Ducky said you were sleeping, I didn't mean to wake you."

"s'okay Abs. Don't mind."

She grinned, her teeth bright in the dark room and climbed over him, lying flat on the other side of the bed.

"They said you would be alright but I just – I just needed to see for myself."

"I'm fine Abs. Really. Just tired."

She moved closer and he could feel the heat radiating off her body. "Good." A pause. "That's twice you saved me Tony."

"Third time's the charm?"

She snorted, kicking his leg with her toesock-clad foot. "Silly. I though he was gonna kill me."

"Jake wouldn'a dared. If you died he'd have to face Gibbs."

"He did anyway," Abby replied a little mischievously. "I've been watching the tapes from the interrogation. Never seen the silver fox look so scary."

"I missed it, huh?" Tony asked. His recollection of the past twelve hours was pretty fuzzy. He could hear Abby nod, her pigtails scraping on the pillowcase.

"You didn't miss much. He's just a dirty, slimy, disgusting, delusional…"

"Fuck?" Tony offered.

"Yeah. That's right." She curled closer to him, careful not to jostle his arm. "Tony… thanks."

He stifled a yawn, grinning. "I aim to please."

_TBConcluded_


	19. Epilogue

**Fridays by Super Em**

**_Epilogue_**

* * *

**Kate:** How'd you get into NCIS?  
**Tony:** I smiled.

_1.02 Hung Out To Dry

* * *

_

One week later, a blue sedan screeched into the parking lot of the Baltimore Police Department at breakneck speed. It came to a stop in the No Parking zone and Leroy Jethro Gibbs climbed out. He stopped at the vendor, purchasing the largest, strongest coffee ever imaginable, the proceeded to enter the building, heading straight for the second floor. He frowned when he saw the man he was looking for.

"DiNozzo! What the hell are you doing here?"

Bent over a cardboard box and with his left arm still wrapped in a tight sling, Tony jumped, instinctively reaching for his gun.

"Jesus! I could ask you the same thing, Gibbs."

"You're still on sick leave." Gibbs said, fixing Tony with a patented Gibbs-glare. He pointed to the box. "Going somewhere?"

"Yeah," Tony nodded with a casual wave. "Just gotta figure out where. Somewhere warm, I'm thinking. With lots of pretty girls."

"You quit? Or get fired?" Gibbs glanced towards Vernski's office, ready to unleash some fire.

"My letter of resignation." Tony held up a plain white envelope briefly before continuing with his packing. Gibbs watched, sipping his coffee.

"Why?"

"I have my reasons."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow.

"Okay… so you want to hear my reasons. Well, I've been here for a while, almost two years. It's about time I moved on."

"DiNozzo." The comment was accentuated with a swift slap to the head.

Tony stopped packing to look up. "What does it matter Gibbs? You want the truth? I didn't want to do anymore interviews or press conferences, especially after the last case. I'm sick of it. Vernski gave me an ultimatum, so I'm leaving."

"He wanted you to do interviews while you're on medically-enforced leave?" Gibbs' voice increased in volume.

"Yeah, something about bandages and sympathy and positive spin. It doesn't matter. Besides, most of the cops here are convinced I suspected them of raping and murdering women. Not the ideal kind of working environment. I can't stay. I think it's a pretty good sing it's time to go when you're on a first name basis with half the journalists in town anyway."

"Good."

"Good?"

The corner of Gibbs' lip twitched. "You're mine now."

"Yours...Gibbs, wait, what?" Tony darted after the older man as he turned to leave.

"7am Monday. NCIS office in DC. You up for it?"

Tony smiled. "Hell yes."

_Fin._

* * *

_I'll keep this short since I've been spamming you with A/Ns for the previous 18 chapters. Thank you all for the reviews and comments and for sticking with this story all the way. You've all made me very happy :D I really hope you've enjoyed it, it's a story I've been thinking about writing for a while so I'm glad I finally did. I think my Tabby shipper-ness was beginning to show through in the end, lol. Hope everyone has a fantastic, safe Christmas! Please let me know your final thoughts of the fic, and stay tuned for whatever comes next._

_:) Super Em_


End file.
